


Between Flesh & Bone

by Darkina



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, Biting, Blow Jobs, Co-workers, Cunnilingus, Drunk Sans, Ecto-Penis, Ecto-Tongue, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fantastic Racism, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Hair-pulling, Hurt/Comfort, Mildly Dubious Consent, Monsterphobia, Oral Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Post-Pacifist Route, Protective Sans, Reader-Insert, Security Guard Sans, Sensitive bones, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Tension, Skeleton Boyfriends, Skeleton Ghost Penis, Skeleton Puns, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Tentacle Dick, Uniform Kink, Watching Someone Sleep, Workplace Relationship, ectodick, ectopenis, sensitive skelebones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 13:07:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 61,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5249321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkina/pseuds/Darkina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since monsters emerged from underground, public opinion has been divided. Many people embraced the idea that they weren't alone on the planet, and opened their hearts to the new citizens of earth. However, many humans also don't trust monsters. Monster hate crimes and other forms of monsterphobia exist the world over.<br/>When a new security guard at work is revealed to be a skeleton, your world expands, and you have to deal with problems you never expected. Including your feelings for him.</p><p>Yes, there will be smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coffee & Coworkers

 You sighed into the chilly morning air as you shuffled down the street to work. It had been a rough morning. Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. Your shirt had somehow gotten a bleach stain, so you were wearing your older work clothes. The handle had come off your closet door. And you’d spilled your breakfast before you even managed to take one bite. _“Almost in to work now”_ , you thought to yourself, _“what else can happen?”_  
  
You decided to grab a coffee, and noticed a little street vendor cart with coffee available on the next block. Strolling over to the cart, you were pleased to see they weren’t too busy. Just one rabbit lady adding sugar to her latte, and a human man about to give his order. You walked over and waited in the lineup, reading the menu, when suddenly the man in front of you yelled, “Fine, fuck you then, you filthy undergrounder! Why don’t you all just go back where you came from!?” threw his hot coffee at the cat man working the cart, and stormed off. You stood in complete shock, and watched the man walk off. The cat man looked depressed as he started mopping up the coffee on his shirt with spare napkins.   
“Oh my god, are you okay?” you move towards him.   
“I’m fine, little buddy, I’ve had worse. At least this time he mostly missed my face,” the man sighed in a resigned tone.   
You knew there was anti-monster sentiment around, after all, the monsters had only come out of the underground 2 years ago. It's even been said that the sweet child who speaks for them as a kind of ambassador is some sort of shapeshifting monster in the shape of a child. But you had never seen such hatred in person. Most of the monsters had gone to the big cities of the world, and seeing a monster had been a rare sight in your smaller city. But with all the growth in jobs, your hometown was now seen as a great place to move to. Monsters were more common in just the last 3 months.   
You awkwardly pulled out your wallet and said, “I’ll have a small coffee, and please, let me also pay for the coffee that horrible man poured on you?”   
The vendor looked up from his napkin blotting and said, “You don’t have to do that. I’m used to everything being terrible.”

“Still,” you laid probably too much money on the counter, “I just feel badly. He shouldn’t have done that. Or said that. We’re not all like that. I’m… really sorry.”  
He tossed the wet napkins in a bin, and shrugged.   
“Sure, little buddy, if it makes you feel better.” The cat man took the money and started getting your coffee ready. You looked behind you and realised you were the only customer. It seemed people here were still not used to the idea of monsters as neighbours. You took your coffee, and smiled at the man before leaving.   
He gave you a nervous smile, and waved as you walked off.   
  
_____________________  
  
What a morning.   
  
You slid into your desk and set your coffee down right as your coworker came scampering over to you, calling your name.   
“Hey Misty,” you greeted her, but groaned inwardly. Today was already shaping up to be a bad one, and Misty is nice but... intense.   
“Did you hear!?” Misty leaned into your personal space with a conspiratorial whisper.   
“Um… no?” You had no idea what she was talking about.   
  
Misty grinned at being the first to get to you with gossip, and said, “We’re getting an office monster!”   
  
You bite your tongue at her insensitive statement, and decide to press her for more information. “A monster will be working here?”   
  
“Exactly,” she said smugly. “Ever since that huge break-in at the tech firm in San Francisco, our company has been looking for some sort of super guard. Some of those monsters are crazy strong! Guess they found one.”   
  
You were a bit shocked, as you didn’t consider this company the most progressive. “That’s pretty cool, actually,” you said, “I know I hate walking around this area at night. It does get pretty spooky in here when I’m alone, working late.”   
  
Your coworker Jeff sauntered over and said, “If you weren’t such a workaholic, you wouldn’t have to stay late.” He grinned at you.   
  
You rolled your eyes at him, “Well, **someone’s** got to get these reports filed for Adling. You volunteering?”   
  
Jeff held his hands up in mock surrender and said “Whoa there, I take it back!”   
  
“Yeah, I thought so,” you replied.

Misty spoke up again, “But it gets weirder. Apparently, and I got this from Lisa in HR, the monster is a skeleton. I didn’t even know they came in skeletons. I thought they were mostly weird animal people!”  
  
You cringed a bit at her phrasing. You opened your mouth to say something about it but Jeff leaned against the wall and said “I dunno, man. That shit is freaky. Frankly, I’d rather take my chances with a robber.”   
  
The girl from accounts piped up from a nearby desk with concern in her voice, “I’m just relieved he’ll only be working after I’m gone for the day.”   
  
Misty and Jeff looked at eachother and then back at you. Misty leaned in and said, “That’s right! You always work late! You’re going to be here with **just** the monster. Like, a lot!”   
  
“Yeah, I sure am,” you replied, trying not to give them the reaction they’re looking for.   
  
Misty was just about to say something when her desk phone rang. “Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, “Duty calls!” She left to answer it, leaving only Jeff by your desk. He waited until Misty was on the phone, then put his hand on the back of your chair and asked, “Hey, are you doing anything this weeke-”   
  
He was cut off by Tessa, a slight girl with long brown hair as she came running over to your desk, calling your name, with a frantic look on her face. “I need your help!!! The files are missing, what do I do?”   
  
“Sorry, Jeff, gotta take this,” as you eased yourself away from his personal space, and grabbed your coffee.   
  
“Yeah, seeya,” Jeff said, looking dejected as you left with Tessa.   
  
Tessa was pretty much your best friend at work. She was painfully shy, but you two really clicked from the first day. Once you both were in the elevator, Tessa smiled. “Looked like you needed a bailout there.”   
  
“Yeahhhhhh, thanks for that. Everyone wanted to talk about the new employee, and then Jeff wanted to talk about my plans for the weekend,” you groaned.   
  
Tessa hid a giggle behind her hand, “He never gives up, does he?”   
  
You laughed and said, “Maybe one day. One glorious day.”   
  
“Wait, so… new coworker?” Tessa asked.   
  
“Yeah,” you replied, “apparently a night watchman, security guard type of guy. Everyone’s been saying he’s a monster.”   
  
“Oh, wow,” Tessa’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? That’s awesome!”   
  
“See, that’s what I thought! Everyone is being kind of shitty over it, though,” you said, “As expected.”   
  
The elevator doors opened and you and Tessa walked to her semi-private office on the quieter floor she worked on.   
  
She had a sad look on her face, as she said, “Yeah. As expected.”   
  
You then told her all about your encounter at the coffee vendor this morning, and she was horrified. You both chatted quietly about what you did on the weekend in her office for a few minutes.   
  
Then you remembered why you came upstairs. “So, are there actually files missing?” you asked.   
  
“Oh!” Tessa clapped her hands over her mouth, “Yes, oh gosh, yes, actually. Sorry. Please help. It was a good excuse, but I really do need your help.”   
  
You laughed and started showing Tessa where the backup files were. The rest of the work day passed without much excitement, other than occasional hushed whispers about skeletons and monsters.   
  
About two hours before the end of the day, Lisa from HR sent a mass email.   
  
_Hey everyone,_  
 _I just wanted to let you know we have a new member of our team joining today._  
_I’d like everyone to welcome our new security guard, Sans. I will be giving him a tour of the office around the end of the day, and if you are still around I’’d be delighted to introduce you._  
 _He’ll be keeping all of us and the company safe, so please come and say hi if you can._  
  
_Thanks,_  
 _Lisa_   
  
The email set off another wave of chattering. _“If you are still around”_ , you think to yourself, _“Hah. Of course I will be.”_   
You gazed at the pile of papers on your desk sadly. _“Why doesn’t Mr. Adling hire another assistant?”_ you wonder. People quieted down after a while, and everyone got back to business.   
  
When the end of the workday hit, you looked around at everyone filtering out. The girl from accounts was long gone, it seemed she wasn’t taking any chances with having to actually interact with her new coworker.   
  
Lisa arrived on your floor about 10 minutes after the day was officially over, but there were a few of you still there. Most of the lights were off, so it was dim. Misty had already left, and Jeff was just putting on his coat.   
  
“Knock knock!” Lisa said into the nearly empty office.   
  
“Heya, Lisa” you called out.   
  
“Oh good, some of you are still here,” Lisa’s heels clicked an echo through the room. A figure followed her. You watched, interested. He was… definitely a skeleton. His hands were in his pockets, so all you could see of him was his skull, but it was quite apparent. He wore a black commando sweater over a white button-down shirt, a black tie, and grey pants, a bit more fashionable than uniforms you’ve seen on security guards in malls. He had what looked like a black utility belt on. He also had a huge grin on his face the entire time, and what seemed like bright white lights in his… eye sockets?   
  
Lisa walked into the centre of the room and spoke up a little louder. “So everyone, this is Sans, he’s going to be watching out for us at nights. His shift is 7pm to 3am, so I’d wager many of you won’t run into him, but it’s nice for him to meet you anyway. If you do need to stay late,” she looked over and smiled at you, “it’s definitely useful that you know eachother.”  The monster beside her pulled his skeletal hand out of his pocket and raised his arm in a relaxed wave. In a deep gravelly voice, he said “Hey.”   
  
Jeff mumbled a “Hey” back and left for the elevator. Most other people did the same. You felt embarrassed somehow and decided you would try and make him feel welcome. You stood up from your desk and went over to them.  
  
“Hi, I’m Mr. Adling’s assistant” and gave Sans your name.  
  
“Sans, is it? Am I saying that right?” you asked.  
  
“Sure are,” he grinned at you. He seemed to always be grinning, though.  
  
You held out your hand to shake, and he seemed almost shocked, but took it anyways.  
  
You shook his hand, and something in you thrilled at the unfamiliar sensation of his boney hand in yours. You tried not to let your fascination show.  
  
Ending the handshake, you pointed out, “I work late. A lot. I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of eachother.”  
  
“Nice to meet ya, kid,” he said.  
  
“You too,” you smiled.

For some reason, you liked him immediately. And somehow, staying late didn’t seem like such a drawback to your job any more.


	2. Pictures & Puns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You receive a terrible email and gain an interesting dinner partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all know who the coffee guy was. ;) Poor dude can't catch a break.

That night you didn’t see much of the new guard. You assumed he was still getting his bearings, and to be fair, his patrol area wasn’t likely to be near your desk. If someone was where they shouldn’t be, he’d have caught them well before they reached you. But as you finished up your last minute checks and sorted your papers around 8pm, you found your thoughts wandering to Sans. After your experiences this morning at the coffee kiosk, you wondered what his life would be like here. You didn’t have many friends in town, as most of your old friends had relocated to suburbs or larger cities. A new work friend would be a nice thing for you, and goodness knows Jeff and the others wouldn’t be welcoming to him.

You decided to make sure you said goodbye to him when you go. You looked, but couldn’t find him. The building was a large one, with quite a few floors. You headed outside and flagged a cab in the chill air. Arriving home and stepping in your door, you remembered your closet was still broken, and you needed to buy some new work clothes. _“It never ends,”_ you thought to yourself. As you fell asleep that night, you wondered when you’d see Sans again.

The next day was a flurry of work. Phones rang off the hook, and you spent half the day figuratively putting out fires rather than doing your actual job. You opened your email after lunch and were horrified to find an email from Jeff with the subject line “ _Since we got so rudely interupted_ ”. He’d spelled interrupted wrong. Clicking it with a growing sense of dread, you expected it to be another attempt at a date.

You did not expect the 3 dick pics. You gasped and closed the window before anyone could walk by and see the images of Jeff’s penis all over your computer. You were terrified to look over at Jeff, knowing he was likely waiting for your reaction.

You made sure not to be near him for the rest of your shift, but you weren’t quite sure what to do. Report him and make your own life even more difficult for a while? Or ignore it, and move on? It’s not as if guys hadn’t tried similar things before, but this was your job. Plus, he was friends with Lisa in Human Resources. You wouldn’t bet on it being an easy fight. You elected for the second option, at least for now. You couldn’t concentrate on this, you needed to focus. Collapsing into your desk right as the clock struck 5pm, you laid your head in your hands and groaned.

 _“Another late night for me,”_ you thought to yourself, _“Why is my life so terrible?”_ Just then, Tessa came up to you.

“Hey, Tess,” you greeted her tiredly.

“Hey, girl, you look exhausted!” she said, “Are you okay?” Tessa leaned in with a concerned look on her face.

“I’m totally fine, just tired,” you lied. Jeff was still there. Tessa quirked an eyebrow and said, “Okay, don’t stay too late.”

 _"I have to tell Tessa,”_ you thought to yourself, _“She won’t be shocked at all. Maybe we can laugh at the pics together.”_ You chuckled to yourself a bit, imagining her grossed out face when you tell her. You were relieved when Misty arrived at Jeff’s desk with a few of the people from the mail room and they all pressured him to go for drinks. He accepted, but stared at you as they filtered out. You were flooded with relief.

It was 9pm when you decided you should go grab something to eat. There were noodle soup packets in the vending machine, and a kettle, so you headed into your floors break room. You had just sat down to wait for the noodles to cook in front of you, when you were startled by someone arriving at the table.

“Hey there, pal,” it was Sans.

You smiled and said “Hi there! I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

Sans leaned back on his heels, hands in his pockets and said “This place is pretty empty. Think it’d be okay if I eat with you? Thought you might want some company. After all, you don’t want to get **bone** -ly”. He winked at you as he took his hands out of his pockets and shrugged.

You burst into laughter at the unexpected pun. “Sure, man,” you gestured at the seat next to you, still laughing, lifted your spoon and said, “that sounds **soup** -er!”

He paused for a brief second, expressionless, then started chuckling, “I think we’re gonna get along just fine.” You felt a little rush of pleasure at the interaction.

He sat down and said, “So rumour is you stay late a lot. Lisa mentioned it, anyway. Seems like you have a skele- **ton** of work to do around here...”

You giggled at his joke, and said, “Yeah, I’m the bosses only assistant. He really needs more, but we can’t really budget for another. Plus, a lot of my tasks would be annoying to split between two people. It’s not so bad, though. I get paid okay, and the work isn’t bad itself.” He nodded as he pulled out a thermos from his belt, and took a sip. “But some of the coworkers leave a lot to be desired…” you trailed off as Sans watched you intently.

“Oh no, not you!” you immediately corrected, “Just… this guy, Jeff. He gives me the creeps.” You’d been bottling up all your anger at Jeff’s emails all day, and you figured the security guy, of all people, should know what a creep Jeff is.

“Oh?” Sans voice was deceptively casual.

“I mean… maybe it’s stupid of me to be freaked out, and I know you and I just met eachother, but this guy we work with keeps asking me out and I’ve rejected him flat out so often. He just never gets it.”

Sans nodded, “That sounds like a real pain.”

“Yeah, it really is,” you replied, “and today he sent me these… gross emails. Pictures of his dick.”

Sans stopped mid-sip and his eyes narrowed.

“You haven’t reported it to HR?” he asked.

“That’s the problem, “ you reply, “He’s friends with Lisa in HR. I doubt anything would happen from it, other than make my life harder and maybe even get me fired. I don’t really want to report it, to be honest. I just wish he’d leave me alone.”

Sans nodded, “I guess I can understand that. Still…”

You blurted out, “Just… if I’m here late and Jeff is around, I’d appreciate if you kept an eye on him, maybe?”

Sans laughed darkly and said, “Well, that pretty much is my job, isn’t it? Keeping an eye on things?”

“I guess so,” you replied, “Sorry to get so heavy on you right away.” You feel like you might have somehow crossed a line by complaining about Jeff so early, but Sans seemed so trustworthy.

“Nah,” the skeleton waved a bony hand at you, “this is the kind of thing security guards do. I’m glad you told me.”

“Thanks. Anyway,” you changed the subject and took a bite of your still hot noodles, “how long have you lived here?”

“My brother and I just moved here a month ago,” he seemed to smile wider when he mentioned his brother, “we’re still settling in. I’m glad I got this job so fast.”

“Me too,” you grin back at him. You made some small talk about the city for a while as you eat. Local restaurants, cool sights.

“I should show you guys around sometime!” you said excitedly.

Sans seemed to think about this, and then said, “I might just take you up on that, kid.” You smiled, pleased with yourself. You were already imagining the places you might take him. He stood and put his thermos back in his belt.

“Sorry to eat and run, but I should get back to my station.”

“Sure, no problem,” you answered, “see you around!”

Sans said, “You will,” winked, and sauntered off.

The next morning, you texted Tessa before you left and asked her to meet you for coffee before work. You met up with her at the coffee kiosk with the cat man, where you both got lattes.

“So anyway, that’s what happened yesterday with Jeff,” you finished the story as you walked down the street.

Tessa was horrified, “Are you gonna tell anyone?”

“Well,” you replied, “I kind of did already. I told the new security guard. I figure he’s the best one to tell, right?”

“Ooohh, you guys had a chance to talk?” Tessa took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, he came to eat dinner with me in the break room,” you grin, “he’s really nice, Tess.”

Tessa nudged you with her shoulder, and said, “Reaaaalllly nice, huh?”

“Shut up,” you laughed, “seriously, he’s a cool guy. I told him I’d take him out and show him around sometime. I think he was considering it.”

“I’m happy for you,” Tessa said, “you need to meet more people, anyway.”

“It’s true,” you shrugged, “Just, don’t mention the Jeff thing to anyone else. If you see him talking to me, it’d help if you could bail me out the way you do, I’d appreciate it.”

“Any time,“ Tess mock saluted you.

The next time you saw Sans was two days later. You were finishing up work at your desk around 7pm, and Sans showed up behind you suddenly. You screamed and nearly fell out of your seat.

“Oh my god, Sans, don’t just sneak up on me like that!” you gasped.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to **skull** -k,” he punned. Clutching your chest from shock, you let out a small laugh, that turned into hysterical laughter. Sans started laughing along with you.

“Sorry,” you choked out between laughs, “I seem to have a case of the giggles. Must be the sleep deprivation.”

“Hey now, never apologize for laughing at my jokes,” Sans suddenly sounded serious, “or you’re going **tibia** -pologizing a lot.”

You laughed so hard your face hurt. Sans seemed really happy with your reaction. You both chatted until you had to leave, and you felt sad at having to go home. You just wanted to keep hanging out with him.

Over the next few weeks, you met up with Sans regularly around mealtimes. It became something of a tradition. Just the two of you in the break room. He would usually tell you some jokes, sip from his thermos, and just talk about random things.

“How’s your brother, Papyrus?” you asked one day while you ate.

“Yeah, he’s good,” Sans replied, “I think he’s a bit lonely lately. We have some friends who live nearby, but we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like.”

“Aww,” you replied, “that’s sad. It is hard to meet people in this city, that’s for sure.”

Sans nodded and tapped his fingers on the table. “People here seem kind of freaked out by monsters.”

You felt a sinking in your gut at his blunt statement. “Y-yeah,” you agreed, “people here aren’t really used to people who are different yet. It must be really hard for you two.”

“It’s okay,” Sans shrugged, “at least there are people like you around.” You flushed in embarrassment.

“I’m not that great or anything,” you waved your hand as you deflected the compliment.

“You’re pretty okay,” Sans winked. You wished once more that you could hang around him outside of these nighttime chats.

“Any time you want me to show you guys around, I’m up for it,” you volunteered, blushing.

“I’ll ask Papyrus,” Sans grinned.

That night you slept badly, and woke after vague dreams of glowing eyes and warm bones on your skin. Dreams that faded from memory after the sun rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's positive reaction to this fic has been overwhelming. Thanks so much, it's truly everyone's messages and kudos that keep me writing.  
> There's much more planned, so please keep reading! Feedback welcomed.


	3. Ketchup & Catcalls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meals with Sans in the breakroom become a regular part of your routine, but a terrifying event rocks your sense of safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for this chapter. Please check the tags.

It was late Friday night, and you were still at work. You had been working with Sans for almost 2 months now.  You didn’t eat with him every day, but it was often enough that you came to expect it, and felt a little disappointed when he didn’t show up.  You slowly picked at your food in the empty break room. If you didn’t see him tonight, you knew it would be another two and a half days before another chance to see him. And the last time you had seen each other was Tuesday. After you finished your leftovers, you cleaned up the table and counters a bit.

After that, you decided to get a chocolate bar from the vending machine. You had to admit to yourself it really was only because you wanted to see Sans.  
Even though you’d offered to show him and his brother around a couple of weeks ago, it never really came up again, and you were too embarrassed to keep asking.

You had just sat down to unwrap your chocolate, when Sans wandered in.   
  
“Hey buddy!” he raised a hand to wave, “long time no see.”   
  
“Hi Sans!” you were delighted, as he slid into the seat beside you and straightened the top of his tie.   
  
“Rough day?” he took an exaggerated look at your candy, “It seems like you needed to hit the **bar**.”   
  
You let out a groaning laugh and pushed his shoulder gently. “Sans, you’re terrible.”   
  
“Aw, you love it,” Sans smirked at you. While he seemed to smile all the time, he had different smiles for different moods. You’d spent enough time with him that you could read them fairly well now. He also seemed to speak without ever showing the inside of his mouth, and it was hard not to stare at the odd movements of his… can you even call them lips? Skull bits? You had noticed he also had what seemed to be eyebrow-like ridges that emoted fluidly. You wondered if they would feel soft or hard to the touch. You tried to remember the handshake from what seemed like so long ago now. He didn’t seem exactly like a human skeleton. You reminded yourself he _wasn’t_ a human skeleton, he was a magical monster that looked superficially like a human skeleton.

You shrugged, took a bite of your chocolate and said, “You’re right, puns are my weak spot.”

Sans leaned his chair backwards, closed his eyes, and put his hands behind his head. “That’s because you’re **pun** -derful.”

Really laughing now, you poked Sans’ shoulder, which unbalanced him on his tilted chair. His eyes snapped open, small pupils flashing white, as his hands reached out from behind his head. You watched in horror as he and the chair clattered to the floor.

“Oh my god,” you yelped, as you fluttered around him in distress. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to d- is that ketchup?”  
  
The thermos he constantly drank from had fallen from his utility belt and the lid was knocked off. It was leaking what looked like ketchup in a thick puddle on to the tiled floor.   
  
Sans simply laid on the ground beside the chair where he’d fallen, in a pose of contrived relaxation, and said, “Heck yes. Breakfast of champions.”   
  
You burst into laughter and said “You are just… so weird, Sans. This whole time I thought that was coffee! Have you really been drinking ketchup this entire time!?”   
  
Sans shrugged from his position on the floor, and said, “Hey, I don’t judge you!” with laughter in his voice.   
  
“No judging! Sorry,” you giggled, and reached a hand out to him.   
  
He took your hand for the second time since you met him, as you helped pull him back to his feet. As he stood, you let your hand linger in his for just a second. This time you wanted to remember the feeling of him. The bones of his hand were warm, and hard. They had the texture of bones you’d touched before, _“while eating wings or ribs,”_ you thought to yourself, and quickly shuddered at the comparison. Because it was nothing like that at all.

Sans felt… alive somehow.

No heartbeat, but a sort of gentle humming to the tips of your fingers. Just as subtle as a heartbeat.

“Thanks,” Sans said as he let go of your hand and quickly turned to salvage his thermos. As he turned, you thought you saw a faint tint of blue creep up his cheeks. But it might have been your imagination.  
  
You helped him mop up all the ketchup, and you both sat down again. “So, uh, sorry about that,” you fidgeted nervously.   
  
“It’s no big deal, really,” Sans insisted in his deep voice.   
  
“At least let me treat you to some ketchup some time?” you joke.   
  
You didn’t think it was that funny, but he started chuckling low in his throat, “It’s a date.”   
  
You felt your face flush and decided to focus on eating your chocolate bar.   
  
You changed the subject, “So how’s Papyrus doing these days?”   
You knew he would instantly warm to the topic. His stories about his brother always brought a certain glow to his face. You spent a longer time than usual just watching him as he talked. Smiling and laughing at the stories Sans shared about his cool sibling, you finished your food but kept talking.   
  
By the time you looked at the clock again, it was quite late. “Oh jeez, is that the time?”   
  
Sans looked over at the clock, “Yeah, looks like. Looks like **hour** time to hang out is probably over.” He side-eyed you, bright eyes in deep sockets, and an impish smile on his face.  
  
You groaned and laid your head on the table, “No… more…. puns! If I laugh too hard, I’ll die!”   
  
He was laughing,“It’s too late, I already know you like it.”   
  
“Okay, I really have to go, Sans. Sorry,” you grinned ruefully.   
  
“Fair enough,” he quirked an eyebrow and pointed a bony finger at you, “Be safe, pal.”   
  
As you left the office, you sighed. Friday nights were the worst. There were two bars nearby, and frequently the drunken people would filter out into the street and hang out in the nearby parking lot. You had gotten a block away from your office doors when you noticed some men in the smaller side street right beside your building. It couldn’t properly be called an alley, more of a laneway, but it was very dark.

  
“Hey girl, hey!” one of the guys had noticed you. You walked faster to get past the alley before they emerged, your breath fogging in the air. _“Just keep walking,”_ you told yourself, _“Just walk, stay calm and don’t react. You’re fine.”_   
  
“Aw, come on, just hang out with us,” another of the men called out. There were three men. Three drunk weirdos. Great.   
  
You sped up a bit, as one yelled, “Awww please, pretty lady, we’re lonely!”   
  
Another of them said, “You should party with us. You too good to party with us?”  
  
You had just cleared the alley when one of the men staggered forwards and grabbed your arm, “You don’t have to be a bitch.”   
  
You pulled backwards but the man didn’t let go of your arm. You knew you had to walk back to the office, you could get Sans, and everything would be fine. All you’d have to do is hit the buzzer at the front and he’d be able to hear it from anywhere in the building. Sans would come and investigate.   
  
Desperate now, you pulled your sleeve away from the man and turned the way you came.   
  
The other men were now blocking your path. 

One of them grabbed you by the waist and pulled you towards himself. You struggled in his grip, being pressed against him as he slurred, “We just want to have some fun!”

You fought against him as you were pulled further into the alley. Somehow in the tussle, you were knocked backwards, onto the hard ground.  Screaming as you dropped, you heard a crack and realised it was your own head hitting the ground. The man had fallen on top of you. Raising your hand to your head, you felt dampness. Holding your hand in front of your face in the darkness, it took you a moment to realise it was your own blood. Disoriented, you tried to collect your wits.

Suddenly, the man on top of you was lifted into the air and was slammed sideways into the bricks. It happened so fast you didn’t even realize what happened, and you only thought of getting away. You blinked, your head fuzzy, and tried to get up and run. You couldn’t quite manage it, as the nausea built in you, and you remained on the cold concrete. You were aware of the men screaming, and garbage cans clattering. You looked with a shaky head to the entrance of the alley and saw Sans, standing in shadows cast by the streetlights around the corner, and glowing with a strange blue light. One of his arms was making wild gestures and a single eye was flaming blue. Tracers of the light from his eye moved across and blurred in your vision. He was not smiling. His teeth were locked in what could only be called a grimace.

You didn’t understand what was happening. There were only two men now. It seemed one of the three took the option to escape. You stared at the scene before you, uncomprehending.  
  
The men were being beaten against the walls by what looked like nothing at all.   
  
Some invisible force threw their bodies over and over like rag dolls.   
  
You blinked again, and then everything went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's reaction to this fic has been amazing. Thanks so much.  
> I hope this chapter wasn't too intense. It's actually one of the shorter chapters in the entire story, as I prefer to focus on the relationships rather than horribleness. The city they live in is full of creeps and monsterphobes, and I wanted to show that. Also, now you see how Sans got that security job. Good call on hiring him, guys.
> 
> But there won't be anything really like this for the rest of the story, so if you're skipping this chapter, then you can move forward knowing this is what the "Attempted rape/assault" tags were for.


	4. Blood & Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has saved you, but how did he get there so fast? And what happened to those men? And what does Sans wear when he's relaxing at home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much hurt/comfort in this chapter. I hope you brought your feels.

You were somewhere dark. Darker than anything, and it felt like your stomach was being pulled inside out. Then nothing.

When you opened your eyes again, you were somewhere warm. Blinking at the light, you moved your head to look around. Pain. Sharp pain in the back side of your head. You made a small groan and lifted your hand to your head.

You were in what seemed like a small bedroom, lit by a lamp in the corner with some t-shirts hanging on it. The floor had piles of clothing everywhere, and you were pretty sure there was a dresser buried underneath even more clothes. There was a small recliner chair in the other corner, and a treadmill against the wall. You were on a decently sized bed that was piled with blankets and sheets. They'd been pushed aside to make room for you, and there was a scratchy towel under your head. Moaning again, you tried to sit up.

“Whoa, hold on,” quietly came a man's voice from just past the door. You tensed, and looked for something to defend yourself with.

It was a skull that peeked around the corner of the bedroom door. Sans. You sagged in relief.

“Try not to move,” Sans came to the side of the bed, holding a mug, “I think you have a concussion.”

“What happened?” everything felt blurry, and there was a sense that you've forgotten something very important.

“Drink this,” Sans knelt down beside the bed, slipped a gentle hand around your back to raise you up and placed the warm mug in your hands. You took the cup and stared down into it. The small white mug looked like it was made at a mall kiosk that prints pictures on things. A photograph of a plate of spaghetti was printed on the side. Sans noticed you staring at the mug, laughed and said, “Yeah, don't ask. Just drink it, it'll fix you up.”

Trusting, you took a small sip and nearly spat it right out. It tasted like the ocean, but warmed up, with bits of seaweed in it. Salty and gross. Sans’ hand on your back remained there and started rubbing gently between your shoulder blades. You could feel the small bumps of his joints through your shirt.

“It's called Sea Tea,” he spoke in a low rumble, “It's monster stuff, and you’ll need it if we aren't going to go to the hospital.”

“The hospital…?” You murmured.

“Drink.”

You dutifully choked back the foul stuff. As you drank, you felt your head clearing.

You took the time to watch Sans as you drank. Sweat beaded his brow, and his eyes were worried. You could tell he was trying not to look too concerned, but it was coming out in his body language, in the way he leaned in. He wasn't wearing his usual black work sweater anymore, he was in just the white button up shirt underneath. His tie was pulled looser, the collar of his shirt pulled up. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the dual bones of his forearms. Dark red stains were scattered on the shirt like blossoms.

Red stains? You started to panic. “Sans, you're bleeding, what hap-”

He cut you off with a raised finger in front of your face, “We’ve got to be quiet, my brother is sleeping.”

Reaching in and taking the now empty mug, he also pulled his other hand away from your back. You felt sad at the loss somehow.

You laid back down and attempted to speak softly, “Are you okay? Those men tried to… You came to save me but what did they do to you? What happened?”

Sans finished placing the mug on a side table piled with papers and graphs and a small clock radio.

“This,” he leaned back on his heels, holding his arms out to the side, “is _your_ blood, kiddo.”

Staring, you raised your hand to your head, remembering, “I… I fell.”

“You did. You fell, and I brought you back here,” he nodded.

“How long was I out for?” you wondered.

“Only a few minutes or so, tops,” he murmured.

“But that can't be true,” you insisted, “Where are we? This isn't the office, and it would have taken at least a few minutes to walk back…”

“Yeah, about that,” he looked a little guilty.

“And how did you know I was in trouble? How did you get there so fast? And how… oh god.” You jerked forwards, sitting up.

You had just remembered seeing the men who attacked you being flung like dolls into the bricks. You nearly lost the tea you drank in the wave of nausea that rolled over you.

“Look, just… Stay calm, okay? Please?” Sans looked incredibly nervous, pushing awkwardly at the cuffs on his sleeves, his fingertips making delicate tapping noises on the bones of his forearms.

Groaning, you laid back down. “I'm calm,” you said, “please, just… help me understand. How did you know I was in trouble?”

Sans seemed to take a deep breath, “I heard you screaming. Then I showed up and I saw those men, that man on top of you…”

He trailed off. His eyes had no lights, just pits of darkness. His hands were in fists now.

“Sans, I'm okay,” you reached out to touch his arm gently, “but how did you get there so fast?”

Sans blinked, and the lights were back in his eyes. He started scrounging beside the bed as he talked, and pulled out some washcloths and a warm basin of water that must have been there since before you woke up.

“I have the, uh… ability to get places. I guess some people might call it teleporting, but it doesn’t work quite like that. I heard a scream outside and I just…” he shrugged, “went to you.” The skeleton sounded mildly uncomfortable about the entire thing.

You processed this for a second, “So it's like, a monster thing? Magic?”

“Pretty much,” he replied, “but you need to roll over on your side so I can clean up the back of your head a bit.” You obliged, rolling over and he leaned in, pushed your hair aside and started dabbing with a warm damp cloth.

“Anyway, after those guys took off, I saw you were hurt, and I figured the hospital wasn't the best option. A monster showing up with a beaten unconscious human girl in his arms? In this city? So I thought we’d… **head** home,” Sans gently touched your head with a finger as he made the joke. He paused to gauge your reaction to his wordplay. When he heard your soft breathy laugh, he resumed his ministrations.

“I brought you back here as quickly as I could, I was hoping the shifting wouldn't disturb you too much,” he continued.

“I understand everything so far, but…what happened to those men?” you asked quietly.

Silence was the only answer.

“Sans?” you pressed.

“They shouldn’t have done that to you,” he said in a clipped tone.

You paused. “I know, it was terrible, I was so scared, but… I opened my eyes after falling and something was… holding those men in the air, throwing them. Did you see it?”

You heard a sigh from behind you.

“There, that's about as much as I can get,” Sans huffed, “Your hair’s all in the way. You should probably have a shower.”

“Sans, please,” you rolled back over and sat up in the bed. He wasn't looking at you, and the damp cloth was covered in blood, clutched in his hand.

“Look, kid,” he started, “you have to understand those guys were no good. You're a good human, and those guys were not.”

“I know that, but…

He cut you off, “I just couldn't let them do that.”

The skeletons eyes were dark again.

“You?” you could barely comprehend what he was saying. The invisible force that had beaten those men had been Sans? You remembered a flash of blue and Sans standing in shadows.

“Sorry pal, I know it's pretty freaky, but you know I'd never hurt you,” he sounded resigned, as if he knew what your reaction would be.

“Did you… kill them?” you trailed off in a whisper, terrified of the answer.

Sans looked up quickly, shocked, “What? No! I just beat the shit out of them. Let's just say they won't be feeling like going to the bars for the next few weeks.”

You let out a breath you didn't even know you were holding. The thought of Sans, a monster, having to go through the human legal system for murder. It wouldn't have gone well for him. Monsters still didn't have basic civil rights yet.

“Thank goodness,” you closed your eyes.

“And I doubt they're going to be reporting me, since they'd have to admit they were molesting some girl on the street,” he leaned back, looking satisfied.

At that moment, you realised how much he'd risked for you. “Sans, thank you. For saving me.”

“Hey, it's no big deal,” he said, putting the washcloth down in the basin out of sight, “you'd have done the same for me, right?”

His grin was sincere, and you truly felt like you would do anything to keep him in your life.

“Yeah,” you smiled back, “but I don't have freaky monster powers, so I'm not sure what use I'll be.”

“You're alright,” he mumbled happily, “Did you want that shower now?”

You took stock of your situation, the dried blood still in your hair, the aches in your body, and decided it was a good idea.

“Yeah, if that's okay? Also, what time is it?” you asked. “It's 2:46am,” Sans replied, pointing a skeletal limb at the side table clock, “I, uh, took off a bit early to get you back here and make sure you were okay.”

“I appreciate it,” you said as you eased yourself up off the bed.

“Shower’s downstairs,” Sans explained, “Papyrus is sleeping, so try not to talk too loud, but just running the shower should be okay.” You wobbled to your feet and Sans helped you down the stairs, one bony arm around your back, and the other poised just above your forearm.

“Well, here it is,” gesturing at the bathroom door as he stood awkwardly, “Towels are in the cabinet… uhhh, I'll be out here on the sofa if you need anything.”

You went in and closed the door except for a crack. If you passed out, you didn't want to be locked in.

As you showered, you found dozens of little cuts and bruises. It seems you'd landed pretty hard. The water turned pink with blood when you rinsed out your hair. It stung a bit, but wasn't so bad, overall. You wondered if the tea Sans made you drink was part of the reason why you didn't feel so terrible.

When you dried yourself off, you realised you'd have to change back into your dirty clothes from earlier. Still in your towel, you peeked your head out the door, and whispered, “Sans! Do you have anything I can wear?”

Sans, startled, jumped to his feet from the sofa. He grabbed a small bundle from the coffee table, and made his way to you. He had changed into a plain grey t-shirt and loose boxer shorts, and you swallowed and blushed. This was the most of him you'd ever seen, and it made his monster body quite evident. His legs were both as you'd imagined them, and shocking somehow. You could see his clavicle in the loose collar of the short he wore.

“Here you go,” he stood at the door, holding out the ball of fabric to you and averting his eyes from your towel-clad body, “I grabbed you these earlier. They should fit okay.” His cheeks had a faint blue glow, the same colour his eye had been earlier that night. You thanked him and took the clothes he offered.

You closed the door and inspected the clothes he'd brought you. A soft pair of men’s sweatpants, the cuffs trimmed off unevenly with scissors, and a baggy torn tshirt that said “FREE SHRUGS”. The waistband needed to be tied, but they were pretty comfortable clothes once they were on. You emerged from the bathroom, warm and suddenly exhausted. Yawning, you walked towards the sofa and almost fell as your knees buckled. Sans was immediately at your side, preventing you from dropping like a stone.

“Okay, looks like that tea’s boosting effect is wearing off,” he chuckled, “You can crash here if you want, you probably shouldn't be alone yet. Is that okay?”

You couldn't do much more than nod, and suddenly there was darkness and a sensation of falling, like when a chair tips over or the first drop of a rollercoaster. And then you were back in the bedroom you had woken up in. “Sorry,” Sans apologized, “It gets better the more often you do it. I just didn't want to risk you hurting yourself.”

You started giggling when you realised he’d teleported you both to the bedroom. You'd been magically teleported twice tonight! It was a strange night, and you were exhausted and in shock. He smiled and helped you into the bed, which was missing the scratchy towel you'd woken up on and looked like the best thing you'd ever seen.

“I don't mind if you take my bed,” he said softly, “I'll be downstairs on the couch if you need me.”

You murmured a sort of affirmative answer and got into the bed. Sans pulled the covers up, turned to leave and shut off the light.

“Night,” you heard him say from the doorway, backlit by the flickering TV from downstairs.

The last thing you remember thinking before sleep took you was how strange it was that you were in your skeleton coworkers bed, after he'd saved you from creeps with magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring for everyone. I'm a sucker for tender hurt/comfort.  
> Just let Sans take care of you!
> 
> For someone who asked, yes we will be seeing more of Tessa in later chapters. :)
> 
> And I have a feeling we're going to meet a certain spaghetti loving skeleton brother next chapter. ;)


	5. Brothers & Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after your attack, you wake up somewhere unfamiliar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has fanart! A very talented artist has made some beautiful illustrations of Sans in his guard uniform, as well as some other naughtier things.  
> 1\. [Security Guard!Sans in uniform](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/134338705374/tomorobo-illust-concept-sketches-for-security)
> 
> 2\. [jc NSFW asdfjk;](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/134343250559/nsfw-undertail-sans)
> 
> This chapter gets a tiny bit NSFW.

You woke up to a loud voice from beside your head yelling, “WOWIE! Sans, you were right, there's a human in here!” You jolted into a half seated position in the blankets, right as Sans piped up, “Aww jeez, come on bro, she's resting.”

You immediately remembered all the events from the previous night. Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you said, “Uh, g’morning. You must be Papyrus?”

The tall lanky skeleton that was leaning over you got the most joyous look on his face, and said, “The human knows my name!!! But of course she must have heard of The Great Papyrus!” He then let out a long cackling laugh.

Sans wandered over from the doorway, smiling, “I'm always telling her how cool you are, bro.”

Papyrus was still standing over you, delighted, and Sans gently put a hand on his shoulder, “Let's just let her get up and stuff first. Then she can come out and talk with us. If that's okay with her?”

The last part was a question directed at you, so you smiled and nodded, thankful for Sans’ interference. Papyrus seemed sweet, but a bit intense for this early in the morning. You looked at the clock, it read 10:37am. Okay, not so early at all.

Papyrus dashed out of the room, yelling, “Get ready, and then you can come for brunch with us!”

Sans remained behind for a moment, hands in the pockets of some black shorts, and the same grey t-shirt as last night. “Sorry about that, I tried to get him to wait. He's pretty cool though, right?”

“He seems great, yeah,” you replied, “He sure seemed happy to see me!”

“Enough to wake you up,” Sans said, shrugging, “Anyway, same deal with the shower today, feel free to use it. Papyrus washed your clothes earlier, your skirt is fine but your shirt is pretty trashed. I left another one there for you.”

“Thanks,” you said sheepishly, “I'm so sorry for all the trouble you've both gone to…”

 "Hey, it's nothing,” he was walking from the room, one hand raised in a wave, “It's what friends do, right?”

You felt warm inside, knowing Sans thought of you as a friend and not just a coworker.

 

You went downstairs to the washroom, and noticed Papyrus on the sofa watching TV. He took no notice of you, and you slipped into the washroom and shut the door. You noticed your work bag on the counter with a bit of relief. You hadn't thought to ask about it last night, but Sans must have remembered to grab it from the alley, even as you lay bleeding. As you lathered yourself with the bar soap that was on the ledge of the tub, you thought about everything that had happened.

Sans had protected you. He had heard your screams, teleported to you, and then used some weird telekinesis to beat those men up. Sans had seemed reluctant to tell you about what he’d done, and very quick to assure you he’d never do the same to you. You almost felt insulted. Did Sans really think you'd suddenly be afraid of him like that? After all the time you’d spent together? You paused, soap in hand. To be honest, you were a bit intimidated. To know that monsters could be so powerful… It was scary in a way. But he had used those skills to save you. How was it any different than a human man fighting them off?

You finished up in the shower, dressed, grabbed your bag, and emerged feeling refreshed. The shirt Sans had loaned you was a plain black t-shirt, a little baggy, but didn't look shockingly ratty.

Papyrus was now standing near the door, while Sans had replaced his previous spot on the couch. Papyrus noticed you and looked delighted.

“Now!?” Papyrus yelped happily, looking at his brother.

“Lemme check,” Sans was shaking his head and smiling.

“Hey,” Sans turned to you, “my brother here wants to go for breakfast-”

“BRUNCH!” the lanky skeleton shouted from the doorway.

“-and we wondered if you'd like to tag along.”

You remembered Papyrus saying something similar when he'd woken you up, and you thought for a minute.

“Sure, I mean, as long as I'm not intruding?” you weren't sure of the invite being out of politeness. You worried the unexpected situation had ruined the brothers’ plan for Saturday morning.

“No! Not at all! Please, human! Please come with us! It will be great!” Papyrus ran over to you and clasped your hands in his, “My brother has spoken of you and we would be honoured to have such a noble kind human to eat with!”

 

Standing, mouth agape, you slowly looked over at Sans, who was shrugging awkwardly, sweat on his brow.

“You need a good meal after all that craziness last night,” Sans croaked out, “Some food that will stick to your **ribs**.”

Papyrus immediately let go of your hands and whipped around to point an accusing finger at Sans. “NO! PUNS!” he shrieked, “we will have a nice brunch with none of that!!!”

Sans started laughing and holding up his hands in surrender, before calling your name. “So, what do you say? Wanna come with?”

“Sounds great,” you laughed.

 

You all walked to the pancake house, chatting as you went. It was only a half an hour walk, and you were shocked to realise the skeleton brothers lived only 4 blocks from your place. Sans had put on a large blue winter coat with a fluffy edged hood. It looked cozy, but it was strange to see him out of his uniform. Stranger still was the fact he was wearing faded pink house slippers. “Well, he doesn't have skin,” you thought to yourself, “so I guess he doesn't feel the cold?”

You mostly listened to the siblings chat and bicker goodnaturedly, interjecting only when you felt comfortable.

Opening the door of the restaurant, you noticed an older couple sitting at a table near the doors shoot your little group a disdainful look. You held eye contact until they looked away.

A disinterested waitress came over and said “For three?” Sans nodded and said, “A booth, if you have it.”

She sighed and said “Sure, just a sec.” You waited in awkward silence near the old couple and finally were brought to your table.

Papyrus was immediately engrossed in the menu, a studious look on his face.

Sans grinned across the booth at you, and asked, “Feelin’ any better?”

“What? Oh, uh yeah,” you answered awkwardly, lowering your menu, “thanks again for saving me.”

“Hey, it was practically my job,” Sans winked, “Besides, I’d miss you at our dinners if something happened to you. You sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” you replied, “your bed was pretty comfy, but then, I was pretty much knocked out when that tea wore off. I probably could have slept on a kitchen floor!”

He laughed, “It's a good thing I didn't make you sleep there!”

 

“Are you ready to order?” the voice of the waitress cut into your banter.

Papyrus laid down the menu immediately and said, “I would like to get some spaghetti.”

The waitress shifted her weight to one side, an annoyed look on her face, “We don't have spaghetti.”

“Well, I have noticed you do not have spaghetti on the menu, but only because it must be so obvious that you would carry it. You don't put tap water on the menu! But you serve it!” He gestured with long boney arms.

“We do put tap water on the menu,” the waitress flipped to the drinks menu and pointed, “besides, who goes to an all-day breakfast place and orders spaghetti? Go somewhere else if you want that. Who even eats spaghetti for breakfast!?”

Papyrus looked defeated. He softly said, “It’s… brunch,” as he picked up the menu again sadly. You felt a rush of anger at this woman's cruel treatment of Sans’ brother.

 

“I love spaghetti for breakfast,” you heard yourself saying, “I pity you for not ever having it. It's pretty great.”

You looked over, and Papyrus was staring at you with undisguised admiration. The waitress looked irritated and said, “Okay, whatever, what will you have then?”

“I'll have the stuffed French toast, please,” you pushed the menu towards the rude waitress. Sans was eyeing you with an odd look on his face. Thoughtful or suspicious, you couldn't tell which.

Papyrus, with renewed confidence, said, “I shall try the Big Ol’ Stack of Waffles, please, and do try spaghetti for brunch. You are missing out!”

The waitress took the menus, looked to Sans and asked “And you, sir?”

Sans waved a bony hand and said, “Nothing for me, thanks, but could you make sure we have plenty of ketchup?”

You stifled a giggle and Sans grinned at you. The waitress left to get your orders in. You chatted with the two skeletons for a bit, but the food didn't take long to arrive.

 

Papyrus gleefully shoveled waffles into his mouth. You stared as the food disappeared into nothingness.

“It's so amazing getting to come out this early!” Papyrus exclaimed, “usually we have to wait for Sans to wake up, and that's not normally until 3pm! I never see Sans get up before 2pm for anything! He is so lazy.”

Papyrus narrowed his eyes and glared sideways at Sans, who looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Papyrus continued, “Even that time I almost burned the house down, he just stayed in bed and said he was too tired to die! I have no idea why you are up, Sans! But I am not complaining!”

You felt a sudden rush of guilt, aware that you were likely the reason Sans had to get up earlier. You tried to catch Sans eye, but he was peeling the edge of the label off a ketchup bottle.

“Well, he does work the night shift, so it makes sense that he'd be on a different sleeping schedule,” you volunteered, taking a bite of your toast.

“He's always been this way,” Papyrus huffed.

“I'm a lazy **bones** at heart,” Sans piped up.

You looked over and Sans was staring at you mischievously. You laughed as Papyrus shouted, “Sans, you are the worst!”

Papyrus still had a smile on his face, and you suspected he loved his brothers’ jokes more than he let on.

 

After you all finished breakfast, and the waitress was clearing off the table, Papyrus spoke up, “Shall we walk you back to your home? Sans, we should escort her home, should we not?”

Sans nodded, “Yeah, definitely.”

The bill came then, and Sans pulled out a beaten leather wallet to pay.

“Wait,” you reached to your bag, “I should pay, you two have been so nice to me!”

Sans glanced at you with his standard smile and said, “Not a chance, pal. We dragged you out here, after all.”

“Only on the promise that you let me take you guys out later,” you bargained.

“Sounds fun,” Sans winked, as Papyrus clapped in delight.

 

Sans left the money on the table, and you all bundled up and left the restaurant.

“My place is near yours,” you said, “just follow me and I'll show you the way.”

Papyrus kept running ahead to look in store windows and at trees and goodness knows what else. This mostly left you and Sans to walk beside each other.

As you walked in comfortable silence, you reflected on the fact you finally got to hang out with Sans and his brother. It felt like so long since you'd first offered.

Papyrus bounded up to you, “You certainly do live close to us, human! Perhaps I should call you… Neighbor!” He had a thoughtful happy look on his face.

“You can if you want, I guess,” you laughed as you came closer to your apartment building.

Sans chuckled quietly.

 

“Well, this is me,” you awkwardly stated, and gestured to your building.

Papyrus enveloped you in a massive hug, lifting you a little off the ground, “Goodbye human! Until our next meeting!”

You laughed as he set you down, “Bye Papyrus. It was really nice to finally meet you!”

“Have a good one, hey?” Sans said, touching your arm gently, “If you still feel rough, go see a doctor, alright?”

You smiled warmly at him and said, “I feel fine but if anything changes, I will. I'll see you at work on Monday.”

 

Watching the two walk off was bittersweet. The worst night of your life had become the best Saturday morning ever.

 

You spent the remainder of the weekend thinking about your time with Sans and his brother. You really enjoyed their dynamic, and it was nice to finally put a face to the stories Sans shared.

But you found your thoughts turning more to Sans.

The way he'd protected you. How he had brought you back to his house and placed you in his bed. He had basically nursed you back to health. His hard hands touching you gently. That he had clearly told Papyrus nice things about you. His secret smiles across the table. It was a constant distraction all weekend.

On Sunday night, you curled up in bed and tried to sleep. Restless, you tossed and turned. Your mind turned to thoughts of your skeleton coworker. Remembering the feel of his hands, and trying to imagine how his other bones felt. You realised your own hands had slid down between your legs.

You had a fleeting thought you probably shouldn't be having sexual fantasies about your coworker. You dismissed it. You were too far gone, and it felt too good. As your fingers delved into yourself, you imagined they were bones, you imagined Sans’ deep voice hissing in your ear. As you got closer, you thought of the noises he might make as you pleased him, and suddenly you were gripped by the most intense orgasm of your life.

You fell into a deep restful sleep, only tainted by a small twinge of guilt.

 

You arrived at work on Monday a bit late. It was strange to be back here after the events on Friday. The last time you walked these streets you'd been attacked, and it seemed very surreal. You decided to stop at Human Resources first to talk to Lisa about the attack.

You knocked outside Lisa's office.

“Hey, come on in,” Lisa called your name, “anything bothering you?”

“I was just wanting to warn people to be careful, is all,” you started off, “I was attacked and molested by by three men as I left here on Friday.”

“Oh god,” Lisa looked shaken, “Are you alright? Should I close the door?”

“I'm fine, actually Sans came and scared them off,” you stammered a little, “I was kind of freaked out so I didn't report it to the police, I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe.”

“I understand,” Lisa nodded, “I’ll send a warning but I won't mention anything about it being an employee here who was attacked.”

“I appreciate it, Lisa,” you said gratefully, “Also, I guess a security guard was a good idea!”

Lisa smiled back at you, “It seems so.”

You said your goodbyes and headed to your work station.

 

You had just gotten your coat off and Tessa was suddenly at your desk, a huge smile on her face. “I'm so excited!!!” she trilled, “It's going to be so fun!”

You blinked at her slowly, “Sorry, Tess, I just got in. I'm not following.”  
  
“Oh, shoot,” Tess looked chagrined, “check your email. I won’t spoil it! I mean… any more than I already have.”   
  
You opened your company email, and saw a new mass email from the office manager with the subject line “Holiday Party Time!”

You skimmed through it, with Tessa perched behind you excitedly.

“It sounds so fun!” Tess stage whispered behind you. Giggling, you confirmed the day was two weeks away.

“I see why you were so excited, Tess!” you added. Your company had booked a whole venue in the entertainment district for the holiday party this year. For all employees. You got an instantaneous rush of excitement at the idea of being able to be at a party with Sans.

“I don't even know what to wear!” Tessa pouted.

“You'll find something, I'm sure,” you replied sardonically as Tessa laughed. You both knew Tess had the hugest wardrobe ever, full of all manner of outfits she bought on a whim and then never wore. She was always generous with her clothes though, and you hated shopping. Many past work parties had you outfitted in her dresses.

“In fact,” you said, “I hope I can come over soon for some closet hunting at ‘Tesses Dresses’?” That was your code name for her “store”.

“Always,” Tessa said, “Maybe this week?”

“Sounds good,” you said, “I'll text you! I have some stuff to talk to you about, a bunch of stuff happened but I really need to get this work done. I'm really sorry. Can we do lunch today, maybe?”

“Sure,” Tessa looked a bit worried, but left to do her job.

   
You got to work as Tess went back to her floor. You could barely concentrate, thinking about the party. Would Sans be there?  
Would he dress up?  
Would he dance?  
**Can** he dance?  
Most importantly, would he dance with **you**?

It was at this moment you had to admit to yourself, you liked Sans. In a romantic way. But what were you going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, everyone! It was a bit longer than the others, and I was pretty busy also. I hope everyone enjoyed it so far.


	6. Transportation & Touching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're excited to see Sans for the first time since Saturday. Will things be weird?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 4 new amazing pieces of fanart for this story! Everyone’s been so supportive and kind. 
> 
> 1\. [This lovely piece](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/134837304364/killsana-ladydarkina-i-felt-my-sins) by killsana
> 
> 2\. [An adorable lunchtime chat](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/134842133039/thephets-ladydarkina-oh-man-between-flesh) by thephets
> 
> 3\. [This **sans** ational piece](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/134903829239/3-hours-of-crying-over-arthritis-carpel-tunnel) by ensavondel
> 
> 4.[This cute comic of the “ketchup incident”](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135023692954/sanscrap-ladydarkina-lazy-comic-about-my%20) by sanscrap
> 
> ~~~  
> [To see all the fanart as it updates, click here.](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart)  
> ~~~

Lunch came sooner than you realised, but considering the fact you had been late to arrive, it wasn't so surprising. You checked your work email, and Lisa had sent out the notification about your attack. Thankfully she had left your name out of it, and it was basically just a “be careful” notice.

Suddenly you heard Tessa’s voice beside you. “So, you wanna come eat lunch in my office?” She asked.

“Great idea,” you smiled back. You went to grab your lunch from the fridge and told her you'd meet her there. Once you'd both settled in at her desk you opened your sandwich and said, “So, I had an interesting weekend.”

Tessa leaned forward and said, “Spill it! Are you okay? You seemed kinda ‘off’ this morning.”

“I'm fine,” you began, “but you know that email they sent today? About the woman who was attacked outside here?”

Tess looked worried, “Yes?”

“That was me,” you sighed.

“Oh gosh, are you okay!? Oh my god,” Tessa was standing now and kind of awkwardly fluttering around you.

“It's okay, Tess,” you grabbed her hand to calm her, “just sit and I'll tell you everything.”

You went through the whole tale, leaving out the part where Sans had beaten up the men, and ending with how the skeleton brothers had walked you home on Saturday.

“Wow,” Tessa let out a huge breath she'd been holding, “I am just so glad you're okay.”

“Me too, to be honest,” you laughed a little, “but it was weird. Because it was just so terrible, but then it turned into the best Saturday I've had in ages.”

Tessa smirked at you, “Sounds like.”

“Quiet, you,” you pushed Tessa’s shoulder jokingly.

“But you totally like him, don't you?” she pressed, “Sans, I mean. You’ve really got it bad.”

You put your head in your arms on Tessa's desk and let out a muffled resigned, “Yes.”

You hear the tinkling of Tess’ delighted laughter. “I say go for it,” Tess said as you lifted your head back up.

You giggled and said, “Aw jeez.”

“We will find you the sexiest dress ever for that party,” she continued, “I think I have the perfect one.”

The alarm on your phone went off, alerting you to the fact lunch was over. Smiling at Tess, you said, “Can’t wait! Guess that's my sign to pack up, though.”

“Sure,” Tess looked entirely too pleased with herself. As you both packed up your lunch remnants, you said, “Don't tell anyone, please? About any of this, I mean.”

“Oh, come on,” Tess scoffed, “what do you take me for? It's in the vault.”

“Thanks, Tess,” you replied, “you're the best.”

You spent the rest of the day writing reports, making photocopies and attempting to dodge Jeff. He'd been more persistent than usual today, and you were starting to think about dialing up the rudeness in your responses to him. But for now, avoiding him was working okay.

You felt a certain tense excitement waiting to see Sans tonight. After all the events of this weekend, you were really looking forward to seeing him again.

After everyone else went home for the day, you sat at your desk, half heartedly working. You were distracted and kept making small mistakes that had to be checked over again. You looked at the clock and realised you’d been just staring at your screen for ten minutes. Sighing, you decided you were pretty much done work for the day. But you grabbed your bag and coat, and headed to the lunch room on the off-chance that Sans would show up.

The lunch room had added a new coffee machine, and it had the option for hot chocolate. You poured yourself one, and sat at the table, sipping it slowly, padding your time.

Without warning, Sans appeared in the seat beside you. You jumped nearly a foot in the air, and almost tipped over your mug.

“Oh my god!” you yelped.

“No, it's just me,” Sans said with a deep chuckle, “it’s nice of you to call me that, though.”

You burst into laughter at the charm of the short skeleton.

“Sans! You're terrible!” you laughed, “you scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry, pal,” Sans looked a bit sympathetic, “I really didn't mean to **rattle your bones**.” He winked.

You were still giggling, and quickly reassured him, “It's fine if it's you. I should really get used to that popping in and out thing you do, I guess.”

Sans’ only response was a smile and a raised eyebrow, and you immediately realised what you said could be taken as a bit dirty. Or maybe you were being paranoid. Maybe talking about his powers was rude? Then the fantasy you had about Sans flooded back into your mind. You could feel your face burning as you stammered, “Because I know about it now, I mean, after you used it to save me.”

Sans leaned back in his chair, taking out his thermos. “So you're not freaked out? I know a lot of humans get kind of **spooked** by what we can do.”

“Not at all,” you insisted, still blushing, “I think it's really cool! It would be neat to experience it without being unconscious or about to pass out though.”

He chuckled at that, and took a sip of ketchup, “Maybe that can be arranged.”

You drank more of your hot chocolate, not knowing what to say to that, and realised you had forgotten the black shirt he’d loaned you at home. You had meant to bring it back, but it must still be sitting on your dresser.

“Your shirt!” You blurted out, “I forgot it! I'm so sorry, I can bring it tomorrow!”

Sans waved a boney hand at you, “Nah, it's fine. That shirt doesn't even fit me any more. It's yours.”

You paused, “A-are you sure?”

Sans glanced over at you, inscrutable, and said, “ **Shirt** thing. It looks better on you than it ever did on me anyways.”

You can't stop the smile that comes to your face, and you let out an awkward little laugh, “Thanks. For the shirt and for… Just, thanks.”

“Don't worry about it,” he replied.

“Are you coming to the holiday party?” you said it before you could stop yourself.

“Oh yeah, that thing,” Sans shrugged, “Dunno. I don't usually go to stuff like that.”

“You really should come,” you insisted, “I know my friend Tess would love to have you there too. Not everyone who works here is a jerk, I promise. Plus, it's open bar.”

“Well, how can I say no to that,” Sans smiled harder and looked at you out the corner of his eyes.

“Great!” you finished your hot chocolate, “I guess I'll see you there.”

“I guess so,” Sans had that odd blue glow to his face again. It was subtle and hard to see in the fluorescent light of the office, but it was definitely there. You stared at his face for a second, not quite sure what you were looking at. Not wanting to stare, you put it out of your mind and started to pull on your coat.

“Well, looks like it’s time for me to head home.” You faltered for a second as you felt something hardened on your coat. Taking a closer look, you realised it was blood. You knew your shirt had gotten pretty much destroyed with blood stains from Friday, but the fact your coat was a dark colour had hidden the damage on it. It was slightly torn as well at the elbows. You hadn’t noticed it this morning in your half asleep state and rush to get in on time.

Sans’ eyes narrowed as he followed your gaze.

“Your coat,” he said, realising why you had looked uncomfortable, “kinda wrecked up.”

“Heh, yeah,” you let out a weak laugh, pulling the coat on all the way, “I didn’t notice this morning. I kind of forgot.”

“Look, pal,” Sans began, voice serious, “how are you getting home tonight?”

“Was going to walk, I guess,” you answered, “I don’t have money for a cab every day.”

You looked up and realised Sans was shaking his head, “Sorry kid, I don’t mean to be nosy, considering I don’t even have a nose, but I’d feel more comfortable if you took a safer way home.”

You immediately bristled a little at his comment, as you’d been walking home from this place for years, and nothing bad had ever happened before Friday. You weren’t some child, despite the fact he frequently referred to you as “kid”.

“I’m not a kid,” you snapped, “I’ll be fine.”

Sans put his hands up defensively, “Sorry. I just thought… forget it.”

You felt a little ashamed for your outburst, and said, “I'm sorry, Sans, you didn't deserve that. I know you're just being nice. What were you going to say?”

“Well,” he began reluctantly, “You mentioned wanting to try that ‘popping in and out thing’ earlier, so I thought maybe I could take you home. Faster, safer… But if you prefer not to…”

You were frozen in your seat, the idea of being able to try teleporting with him again was exciting and terrifying.

“Yes!” you almost shouted, “I mean no! I mean, I'd love that!”

“Thought so,” Sans grinned, “grab your stuff, I'm good to go whenever.”

“This is it, really,” you gestured at your bag on the table.

“Alright,” Sans stood up, fitting his thermos back at his hip, “Got some safety tips. Don't let go of me. Although I will be holding on to you. I'd hate to lose you in the void. Better to have as many points of contact as possible. It doesn't work if we’re not touching. Second tip, **don't let go of me**.”

You swallowed. That sounded… not as safe as you'd thought. You had to be touching though? Your heart pounded, and a little shiver ran through you. You were so doing this.

“Last two times I was carrying you completely, but I think maybe that won't work this time,” Sans winked, “since you're clearly able to move under your own power.”

A tiny voice in your head was saying “ _oh god, carry me_ ”, but you shook it off and nodded. You put your bag over your shoulder, and stood closer to to the centre of the lunch room, “So, uh, where do you want me?”.

“There's fine,” the skeleton said calmly.

Sans sauntered over, and stood in front of you for a second. Then he was sliding his hands over your waist. It was like dancing in school all over again. Standing at a distance, hands above your hips. You felt a rush of tense attraction coiled in your stomach.

“Okay,” he looked a bit uncomfortable, his pinprick eyes darting around, not making eye contact. You felt his bones grip into your sides, “let me know if I'm squeezing too hard. You can put your hands wherever, just make sure you hold on.”

Your face felt hot again, and you held your hands up awkwardly, trying to decide the least invasive place to put them. You settled on his shoulders. Placing your hands there, he piped up, “Harder than that, if I'm not carrying you, you're going to have to hold on a bit tighter.”

You squeezed down on his shoulders and felt the bones underneath his sweater and shirt. He let out a slightly strangled sounding breath, and said “Better. Now don't let go. You ready?”

You nodded, your heart practically beating out of your chest.

“Please keep your arms inside the vehicle,” Sans said in a goofy voice, “we are ready for takeoff.”

A tingling on your body, and then there was nothing. The same forever darkness you vaguely remembered, and the feeling you get in your gut when you've lost something important. Almost as soon as it started, it was over, and the lobby of your apartment building shattered into your vision.

You immediately realised you'd pressed yourself entirely up against Sans during the trip. Your arms were now wrapped around him, clutching his back. You quickly pulled your hands off, and stepped back as he cleared his throat.

“Well, you certainly know how to follow instructions,” he teased, eyes half lidded.

“It was a bit scary, okay!?” you flushed, embarrassed but delighted.

“No, it's good you did,” Sans nodded, “I can, uh, take you home like that whenever you want. If you like, I mean.”

“That would be… convenient, for sure,” you stammered. You looked around and realised he'd brought you inside the lobby of your building rather than outside.

“Wow, I guess locks mean nothing to you,” you joked.

“Pretty much,” his impish grin was contagious.

A moment of boldness overtook you, and you asked, “Want to walk me to my apartment?”

Sans looked a bit shocked, but instantly covered it, “Sure. That way I can drop you off directly in future. I can't go somewhere I haven't seen. At least not reliably, anyway.”

You nodded, pressed the button for the elevator, and stood beside him. There was an awkward silence but you didn't mind. Your body was still high on the exhilaration of being pressed against your monster coworker and being transported with strange magic.

At your door, you unlocked your apartment and stepped inside. “Here it is,” you gestured, “drink it in. My humble abode.”

“Nice place,” Sans looked around at the foyer of your place, “ Guess I should probably get back to work.”

“Bye, Sans,” you replied, “thanks again.”

“You say that too often,” he smirked, “it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow.”

And then he was gone, seemingly disappearing as you blinked.

You closed and locked the door, and kicked off your shoes, still humming with energy. You struggled your broken closet door open, and hung up your bloodied jacket. You made a mental note to get it dry cleaned and sewn up. Between this and the shirt you'd wrecked the morning you met Sans, your work wardrobe was looking pretty sparse. Maybe you could ask Tess if she had any spare “officey” shirts you could have.

You got ready for bed and when you finally wandered into your bedroom, your eyes fell on the shirt Sans had given you. It was draped over the corner of your dresser where you'd thrown it on Saturday afternoon.

Before you could think about it, you'd grabbed it and brought it to your face. Inhaling deeply, you thought “ _God, I'm such a freak_ ”. It smelled like him. Like dusty old books, and the air before it snows.

You hadn't worn it long enough on Saturday to erase the smell of the skeleton man, and you were simultaneously relieved and dismayed.

You had an idea. You laid the shirt on your bed. Then you tore into your bedroom closet and started digging through for the pillow you knew was in there. It was a dumb useless little throw pillow, you'd gotten it as a gift from someone years ago. It didn't really fit in with your decor, and you had thrown it into your closet without even opening it.

“Success!” you said as you pulled the plastic bag out of the recesses of the closet. You yanked open the bag, and pulled the pristine pillow out. Gauging the size, you figured it was perfect for your plan.

You went to sit on your bed, and grabbed Sans’ tshirt. You wrapped the shirt around the pillow. It was a bit loose but it seemed to stay fairly well. “ _I really am a freak_ ,” you thought to yourself. You climbed into bed, bringing the pillow with you. Nuzzling your face into it, you fell asleep with the smell of Sans surrounding you, and the feeling of his bones on your waist.


	7. Snow & Spaghetti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fresh snow turns your town into a winter wonderland. Meanwhile, there's some drama at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Some great new fanart!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135365116379/phoenixdoesartstuff-oh-god-this-is-soo-crappy)  
>  by phoenixdoesartstuff
> 
> Thanks so much! I’m so happy that everyone’s enjoying the story so far!  
> 1000 kudos and 13000 hits? You are all amazing. And so many people have given recs for this fic, I just want to thank you all.  
> Please enjoy this chapter.

You woke up before your alarm even went off the next morning, feeling better than you had in ages. You realized you'd been wrapped around a pillow that smelled like heaven. You blinked, and as you became more awake, you realised it was Sans’ shirt wrapped around a pillow. Blushing, you slid out of bed, thinking about how tremendously embarrassing and high school you were acting over the skeleton.

As you got ready, you found yourself thinking about the upcoming holiday party. You played through little scenarios in your head, situations in which Sans might ask you to dance, what he might be wearing. You wondered if he even found humans attractive. You got a sinking feeling as you considered the possibility you may not be his type, much less his preferred species. _“Not that I could blame him,”_ you considered, _“considering how shitty humans have been to him.”_

Shaking it off, you finished getting ready with time to spare. Remembering your coat was damaged, you found an older winter coat you had in storage and pulled it on. It still fit, although it was a bit beaten up looking. _“Still better than being drenched in blood,”_ you laughed to yourself.

As you emerged from your building, you were shocked to see snow. A lot of snow. Smiling to yourself, you also groaned internally thinking about how much harder the walk into work would be. You could see a lot of unshoveled driveways and sidewalks ahead of you. You dug into your bag and pulled on a pair of gloves.

As you walked, the snowy air made you think of Sans. How can he smell like snow, you wondered. What are monsters even made of?

You arrived at work a bit early, despite the weather. Tess was at your desk as you got in, and she waved a greeting.

“Sorry,” she called your name, “I was just looking for that report from yesterday. I thought it might be here on your desk.”

“I sent it off already,” you smiled, taking off your coat, “but I'll print you a copy.”

“Aww damn, I should have realised you'd have sent it already,” Tess looked embarrassed, “I'm so sorry.”

“It's fine, Tess!” you reassured her, “we still on for dress things?”

Tess brightened considerably, and said, “Yeah, I'm free Saturday! You want to do it then?”

“Sounds perfect,” you replied happily and sat down at your desk.

The day passed uneventfully until mid afternoon. You were engrossed in an email message chain concerning someone who had made a mistake, and now it was up to you to fix said mistake. You were typing away, concentrating so hard that you didn't notice Jeff had wandered over. You only realised it as his hand rested on your upper back.

Immediately leaning forward like a cat avoiding being petted, you said, “What is it, Jeff?” in a snippy voice.

“Hey now, no need to be like that,” Jeff laughed cockily, “I just thought maybe you'd appreciate some company. And perhaps... you wanted a ride to the party next weekend?”

“Not really, I can get there myself,” you had slid your chair back so he couldn't touch you again without awkwardly stepping over the large potted plant near your desk. The girl from accounts looked over at you two with an amused expression on her face, and resumed working.

Jeff paused behind the plant, and elected to make a casual lounging pose against your desk instead.

“Since we’ve gotten to know eachother a lot better,” he smirked at you, “I thought we could maybe go together.”

“No thanks,” you said politely with no expression on your face, “if you'll excuse me.”

You stood up and went to the women's washroom on your floor. You stared into the mirror for a second, before washing your hands. _“Why won't Jeff leave me alone!?”_ You thought to yourself.

That's when you heard a sob from the furthest bathroom stall from the door.

“Um,” you awkwardly began, “A-are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” came a muffled voice, followed by a volley of tears.

You recognized her voice, “Misty?”

“Leave me alone…” Misty wept through the door.

“Do you want me to clear it so you can go home,” you said cautiously, “I can, if you want?”

There was a click as the door opened. “You'd do that for me?” she sobbed out, “Why? How could you do this to me and then act so sweet?”

“Hey, c’mere,” you grabbed a bunch of paper towels and held them out to her, “the toilet paper in here will probably just leave a bunch of paper all over your face.”

She laughed weakly at your joke.

“What did I do, exactly?” you asked,

“I… I asked Jeff to the party,” Misty blurted out, “he shot me down. He said he was going alone. But… I heard him ask you. Just now.”

She started crying again, holding the paper towels to her face.

“Oh,” you felt awkward, “I’m not going with him. If it makes you feel better. I don't like him that way. Like, at all.”

You decided to leave out how much you hate him, thinking it probably wouldn't go over well.

“It doesn't, really,” she choked out, and hesitated, “Maybe a little.”

You rubbed her back, “Look, I'll let Adling know you felt sick and had to go home, okay? I don't like Jeff, and I promise I won't be going anywhere with him. He's all yours, okay?”

“O-okay,” Misty mumbled.

You got her cleaned up enough to go home and sent her out with a promise to take care of everything. Sitting at your desk after, you wondered how your life got so complicated. It seemed half your job was putting out other people's fires. And that was just actual work. Dealing with Misty and Jeff’s weird drama on top of that was the last thing you needed. Despite that, you cleared a sick day for Misty. You couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Even though her taste in men was apparently terrible.

You avoided Jeff for the rest of the day, but a couple of hours later, right at the end of the day, you felt him staring at you. You glanced aside and realised the girl from accounts (Sarah, was it?) was also staring.

“Hey,” came a deep voice from behind you, and you twitched in your seat, startled.

Sans was standing near your desk, in his casual clothes, with a sheepish expression on his face.

“Papyrus wanted to play in the snow and we ended up nearby,” Sans said apologetically, “We went inside to, uh… warm up, since we were chilled to the **bone**. Once I mentioned you were here, he insisted I ask you to come see the snow with us.”

“That sounds fun!” you said, looking at the clock, “Sure, I'll come down! Just let me get my stuff together.”

You were just putting on your coat and grabbing your bag when you felt eyes on you once more. You looked from the corner of your eye and Jeff was glaring at you with a scary expression. Or, no, you realized, he was directing it at Sans beside you.

“Hey, Jeff,” Sans tilted his head back slightly, hands in his pockets, “How’s it going?” The words were friendly, but the tone was not.

Jeff started at that, and swallowed nervously. “It's going fine,” he muttered as he left for the elevator.

You scrunched your face a little at the awkwardness, but Sans looked calm. You knew Jeff was a monsterphobe, but you felt angry that he'd made it so obvious. With a pang of guilt for being the reason Sans was up here at the same time as Jeff, you spoke up, “Ready!”

“Cool,” Sans replied as he wandered towards the elevator. You paused, thinking it was going to be an awkward ride down if Jeff was still at the elevator, but Sans didn't seem to mind, as he kept walking. You scurried after him.

Sure enough, Jeff was still waiting there. The human shifted from foot to foot, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. All three of you stood there in silence, watching the lights of the floors tick up. When the elevator doors opened you were horrified to see there was no one inside. It would just be the three of you, riding together. People must have left early to get home in the snow.

You all walked in silently. Sans stood between you and Jeff, and you thanked him in your mind. Jeff reached to press the ground floor button, but Sans was too quick. His boney finger darted in to press the button as Jeff recoiled.

“Let me get that for ya, pal,” Sans eyes were missing their characteristic glowing pupils. Just pools of darkness above his huge grin.

Jeff made a noncommittal noise and stood stiffly the rest of the ride downstairs. As soon as the elevator opened to the lobby, Jeff took off at a brisk pace without saying anything.

“Sorry about that,” you apologized to Sans once you were out of Jeff’s earshot, “I hate that guy.”

“It's **snow** problem,” Sans teased you, “It's not your fault he's an asshole.”

Sans’ voice was jovial enough but had tightened when he'd said ‘asshole’. He held the main door open for you, and you both stepped into the chilly dark evening.

“I do like that he left me alone for once,” you sighed, “I should have you around more often.”

“I'm okay with that,” Sans looked smug, “Guy has no **spine**.”

Laughing, you asked, “So where's Papyrus? You said he was with you?”

Sans shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head right. “We found a little diner around the corner, he's got a table there. We should hurry, he's waiting,” the short skeleton was already walking ahead of you as you ran to catch up.

Walking through the snowy dark streets with Sans was really pleasant. It was still snowing, and as your feet crunched in the snow you felt very serene. You saw a diner ahead, the windows shining with a warm orange light.

“Here we are,” Sans gestured. The door made a cute chime as you both walked in. You looked to find Sans’ brother, and saw him across the restaurant waving one long boney arm in the air. “SANS! HUMAN! HELLO! THEY HAVE SPAGHETTI HERE!” Papyrus was bellowing across the room to you.

“Good old Papy,” Sans smiled as you both joined his brother at the table. Papyrus was already two thirds of his way through a giant plate of spaghetti.

“So Papyrus,” you started, “I heard you like the snow.”

“It's wonderful!” the tall skeleton gestured with a spaghetti covered fork. You dodged the sauce that splattered off it, as he continued, “It’s just like home! The Great Papyrus missed the snow these last couple of years.”

There was a note of sadness in his voice, but it was gone in a flash. “We built a snowman!” Papyrus said, “Well, I did.”

Papyrus looked sideways at Sans, “Sans built a pile of snow.”

“It was a chair!” Sans sounded mortally offended, “I thought it would be… **ice** to sit down.”

Papyrus shrieked, “NO PUNS!!!” at Sans just as the server showed up. She looked a bit taken aback, but smiled sweetly. Her nametag said "Alice".

“Will you two be having anything?” she held some menus.

“Yes please,” you chirped.

She laid the menus on the table and said, “I'll go get you some water, and I'll come back for your orders.”

You glanced over the menus and decided to get some chicken fingers and fries. Sans made no motion to grab the menu, as usual.

Papyrus was happily eating his spaghetti when the waitress came back and you ordered your food.

You listened as Papyrus told you all about the fun he'd had in the snow. “It's so much like Snowdin,” he said cheerfully.

Your ears perked up. “Snowdin,” you asked, “Is that where you guys are from? Underground?”

Sans nodded, “That's the place.”

“It was always snowy there,” Papyrus replied, “and there was a library and an inn and a pretty tree and we had a really nice house.”

Sans leaned against the seat back, “And Grillby’s,” he said almost wistfully.

“It sounds great,” you smiled at them both. Right then the server showed up with your food. You ate and chatted for about an hour. You learned all about their lives in the Underground. Sans was mostly silent as Papyrus spoke. But he looked happy, watching his brother become so animated.

You looked at your phone and saw the time. “Shoot, I should get going,” you said sadly. Papyrus let out a sigh, but perked up and said, “Until next time, human! I hope you will have a very merry holiday!”

“You too, Papyrus,” you leaned over to hug him, “It was really nice seeing you again!”

Sans stood up and said, “Yeah, I should get home and grab my uniform. My shift starts in a little less than an hour.” He turned to you, “Want a ride home?”

You blinked a bit and said, “Um, sure.”

You went up near the door, and paid the tab for Papyrus’ spaghetti and your food, as Papyrus came over and hugged you. Laughing, you struggled to hit the keypad on the debit machine while dangling in the skeletons arms. The server was clearly holding back laughter.

“Thank you, neighbor!” Papyrus exclaimed, “you are truly a fine friend!”

Sans sauntered over to you both as the server handed you your receipt. “Come back any time,” she smiled, “You're always welcome here.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Sans smiled and nodded at her. You felt a little clutching feeling in your stomach that you realised was a bit of jealousy. You pushed it down. _“He's just being nice. You’re being silly,”_ you scolded yourself.

As the three of you emerged into the cold night air, you shivered. This had been another amazing night.

You realised Sans was looking at you expectantly, waiting for the go ahead to warp you home.

“Goodbye, human! Goodbye brother! I will walk home in this lovely snow!” Papyrus waved at you both.

“I'll see you when I get home at 3am, bro,” Sans said to him.

You nervously stepped towards Sans, and reached for his shoulders. You felt weird doing this in the middle of the street with Sans’ brother watching. You made sure to grip his shoulders tightly.

Sans’ eyes narrowed as a slow easy grin spread across his face, “You're getting good at this,” he rumbled.

You were afraid he could hear your heart beating out of your chest, as he placed his hands on your waist and gripped.

“Hold on tight,” he said as you fell into darkness.

You were in the foyer of your apartment before you could even think much of anything. A wave of dizziness rolled over you and you clutched at Sans’ blue jacket as your knees buckled. You realised you were pressed up against him again. He was supporting your back, since you'd almost slid out of his arms when you'd “landed”.

“Careful there, buddy,” Sans smiled at you, “Didn't know you were gonna’ **fall** for me like that.” You yelped and flew backwards from him, saying, “Sorry! Oh my god, sorry. I'm just not used to that yet. I'll do better next time, I promise!”

“No complaints here,” he said with an impish look on his face.

“Goodnight,” you blushed, “thanks for the ride home. I'll see you tomorrow, probably.”

“Good stuff,” Sans waved at you, and disappeared.

He popped back instantly, and you jumped.

“By the way,” he said quietly, “thanks for being so nice to my brother. He thinks you're great. And so do I.”

He vanished before you could answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed that. Sorry there was so much work drama before we got to Sans.
> 
> I got a bit of a headstart on the next chapter, so expect it a bit sooner than usual!


	8. Flirtation & Phone Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Sans grow closer, and you could swear he's been hitting on you. Or is he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a holiday treat for my readers, two updates in one week!
> 
> Thanks so much for all the kudos and recs. You've also been sending me some lovely messages on tumblr, which really warm my heart. So please feel free to message me on there, I always answer every one!
> 
> http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com

The next day, Mr. Adling showed up first thing and surprised you with an entire day of off-site work visiting clients, hopping all over town. You grumped to yourself as you stalked downstairs to the company car you'd be using.

All you could think about was how you weren't going to be able to see Sans today unless you deliberately went in looking for him after hours. And you weren't quite desperate enough to make such a blatant move. You were slightly relieved it would give you some time away from Misty after the incident yesterday.

You got through the day fine, and drove home afterwards. Chucking the keys in your change holder near the door, you sighed. You'd just drive in tomorrow morning and leave the car in the parking lot as you usually did in these rare cases.

You climbed into bed and pushed your face into the shirt covered pillow. Breathing deeply, you imagined showing up at the work party in a gorgeous outfit, and leaving Sans speechless. You fell asleep to dreams of dancing and the smell of dusty old books and snowy air.

You stayed a little bit late the next day at work, attempting to get things done so you could leave at closing time tomorrow. When 9pm rolled around, you headed to the lunch room to see if Sans was around. Sure enough, he was there, lounging in one of the chairs. It looked like he was sleeping.

“Hey friend,” he spoke suddenly, voice bleary with sleep, “what's **shakin’**?” He then somehow shook his bones so they made a rattling noise.

“Whoa!” you jumped, and then started giggling madly, “you were awake after all, huh?”

“Nah,” Sans shook his head, “I'm just a light sleeper.”

You sat down beside him and put your bag on the table but didn't remove your coat.

“I just wanted to say goodbye. I'll have to leave early tomorrow, so I probably won't see you,” you told him, “I'm going to be getting a dress for the party on Saturday.”

Sans nodded, pulling out his thermos and taking a drink.

“I guess I should dig out my suit,” he pondered.

You felt your body tense, imagining Sans in a suit.

“You have a suit, huh?” you managed to squeak out.

“Yeah, a three piece deal,” he chuckled, “A couple of friends are getting married in the spring, and they pretty much forced me to get it. It means I don't have to go shopping for one again, so it **suits** me just fine.”

He was winking at you again. You laughed and you were pretty sure you were blushing, judging from the heat in your face.

“I should head home, I guess,” you said reluctantly.

“Sure thing,” Sans capped his thermos and set it in his belt.

“Actually”, Sans pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table to you.

Confused, you reached out to take it, as he spoke up, “Just thought you might want my number. Just in case something happened, or anything.”

The short skeleton looked overly casual as he said it, and you wondered if he was hitting on you.

“Yeah,” you replied, “That would be handy, like if we wanted to meet up before the party or something.”

He held his casual pose, and shrugged, “Yeah, maybe.”

 _"Okay, probably not hitting on me,"_ you thought.

“But it would be easier if you just put it in my phone,” you quirked an eyebrow at him. You pulled out your phone and opened the contact entries.

“Here,” you handed it to him, as sweat somehow appeared on his head.

His hard fingertips clicked against your phone as he took it from you and typed in his name. Handing it back, you saw he’d entered his name as ***sans ;)**.

You giggled when you read it, and immediately pressed the call button. He jolted when his phone started vibrating at his hip, as you exclaimed, “There, now you have mine too!”

“At least now you know it's not a **phoney** number,” Sans looked smug as he waited for your reaction.

You laughed sincerely, and Sans joined you in delighted laughter, your voices making a hilarious harmony.

“Anyway, I guess I'll see you next week,” you stood to leave.

“Wait,” Sans stood as well, “Didn’t you want a ride home?” His face looked open and friendly as he waited for your answer.

“Sure, I mean, if it's no trouble,” you said warily.

“None at all,” Sans insisted, “I just…” The skeleton paused, looking away from you, “I just like knowing you're safe, is all.”

You smiled shyly, and said, “Yeah, I'd love a ride home. Thanks.”

You stepped backwards to give him room, and he moved forward to meet you. Once again, you grabbed on to his shoulders and he held your waist. It was becoming so normal for you, and you took a second to appreciate the warmth and form of the bones beneath his sweater. You squeezed gently and you heard him take a breath. _“Does he even breathe?”_ you wondered.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Totally,” you nodded with determination as the world blinked out around you.

This trip was the easiest so far, and you managed to stand through the rush of disorientation as you arrived. But you were still plastered up against Sans when you found yourself in your apartment.

“I told you it gets easier,” Sans smiled at you, his face just inches from yours. You stepped back out of his personal space, adjusting your coat down.

“You're right,” you stammered, “It’s still pretty weird though. I guess I must get nervous when we’re in that… nothingness, or whatever it is.”

“The void tends to do that to most people,” Sans looked serious and his voice flattened, “It's a good instinct.”

You shifted nervously, it always unsettled you when he got like this.

“I know you'd never let anything happen to me,” you reassured him, putting a hand on his arm.

Sans looked into your eyes intensely, “I really wouldn't.”

“Ah, t-thanks so much for always bringing me home,” you stammered, “I'll see you on Monday?”

Sans seemed to relax, and put up a single hand in a loose wave.

“It's cool,” he drawled, “Seeya later, kid. Hope your dress thing goes okay this weekend.”

You waved back as he blinked out of your living room in silence. You stood there for a second, just thinking about the last time he dropped you off and he’d come back for a second to thank you. You couldn't stop thinking about it.

What if he came back now? What if you took off your coat and started changing and he came back while you were naked? The idea sent a frisson down your back. You wondered if he'd pop out again immediately, embarrassed, or if he'd stay and watch you until you noticed him. You pushed the thoughts away, realizing you were going to get too obsessed if this carried on.

You took off your coat and hung it up, and changed into some sleeping shorts and a tank top. You sat down on your sofa, and tried to distract yourself with some dumb show on Netflix.

No matter how you twisted and turned on your sofa you couldn't get comfortable. Suddenly, you remembered the pillow, and stood up, cracking your back. You went and fetched the Sans shirt pillow and stuck it right against the armrest of the sofa. Rearranging yourself, you leaned back into the new comfortable setup. “So cozy,” you sighed, and unpaused your show. You'd bring it back with you when you went to bed.

Your eyes shot open to the bright light coming in your window. Brighter than normal, you realised as you tumbled off the side of the sofa. You'd fallen asleep while watching shows, and now you were going to be late.

Frantically, you scrambled to your cell phone to check the time. It was 9:30am.

 _“Already half an hour late,”_ you panicked.

You had a hurried shower, threw on your work clothes, and shot out the apartment door.

Work was boring, once again full of too many tasks and not enough time. You grumbled to yourself and realized you'd be pulling a lot of overtime next week if you had to leave on time tonight.

You had skipped lunch to make up for being late. But it couldn't be helped, you wanted to actually be awake to find an outfit tomorrow.

You were packing up about ten minutes before the end of the day when Sans came strolling up to your desk in uniform. His shift wasn't even supposed to start for another two hours, so you were a little perplexed. From your peripheral vision, you could feel Jeff’s eyes boring into you, and you ignored it.

“Hey pal,” Sans greeted you, “Happy Friday. You mentioned you wanted to head home early today. I thought you might appreciate it if the skeleton express stopped in at the station again.”

“Aww, thanks, Sans,” your mouth hurt from smiling so wide, “that's so sweet of you! I really do appreciate it.”

“It's no problem,” he waved a hand, “I keep saying that. Don't even worry about it.”

“So uh,” you stammered, feeling Jeff’s eyes on you, “Maybe we should go somewhere else.”

You didn't want Jeff to see Sans using his powers. You didn't know why, if it was dangerous or just because you wanted it to be your special “thing”, but you wanted privacy for some reason.

Sans raised one boney eyebrow and gave you an odd look, “Sure.”

You both walked to the lunch room past Jeff, who was clearly watching you both as you went by. You said "Later, have a good weekend!" to no one in particular, but waved at Misty as you left, and she gave a small polite wave back. A few people said "Yeah, you too" and similar things.

When you got into the empty lunch room, you made sure your bag was attached securely. Sans spread his arms as if waiting for a hug, and boldly, you looped your arms around his neck instead of just grabbing his shoulders.

He pulled back a bit, hands held out awkwardly, and looked at your face with eyes wide.

You shrugged, “I always end up like this anyway.”

He narrowed his eyes and let out a deep chuckle. You felt the laugh reverberate through his bones that were pressed against your front.

Placing his hands around your waist, you were pleased to note he was holding you against him, rather than just gripping your sides.

You felt dizzy, like you were drugged. You wished this moment could last forever. Pressed up against Sans, even with his sweater and your coat between you, was everything you could have hoped for. You could smell him, that dusty winter smell, and a hint of tomato sweetness. You smiled into his shoulder, thinking of his ketchup drinking.

He leaned in and whispered roughly against your ear, “Don't let go,” and the world splashed into blackness.

You felt your feet touch solid ground but everything remained dark. You opened your eyes and remembered you were draped in Sans arms.

His hands stayed at your hips, lingering there gently.

Swallowing, you wondered if you could kiss him now. If he could even kiss? You realized you were trembling a little, and you looked up into Sans’ face cautiously.

Then his hands fell from your sides. He wasn't looking at you, he was staring across the room, glowing eyes focused somewhere in your living room. His bone eyebrow ridges drew together in what looked like confusion.

You turned your head, annoyed at losing the moment, and realised what he was staring at so intently.

 _“Shit,”_ you thought in horror, _“the pillow!”_

In your mad dash to get to work that morning you had left the pillow wrapped in his shirt there on the couch. And you were pretty sure Sans was looking at it.

Stepping back, you tried to draw his attention.

“Hey thanks again for bringing me home,” you said awkwardly, “I should probably get my dinner on though. I'll see you on Monday!”

Sans’ eyes darted back to you, his face relaxed in a grin.

“Yeah,” he smiled, eyes mischievous, “ **Shirt** thing.”

He disappeared mid-laugh, as you stood in your apartment wishing you could sink into the floor and die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all knew that pillow was going to come back to haunt you, but wasn't it delicious anyway?
> 
> Next chapter will be finding a dress! I haven't figured out if the party will be next chapter or the one after, but I'm aiming to get the party chapter out by Christmas. 
> 
> Thanks!


	9. Help & Humiliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're pretty sure Sans saw your pillow with his shirt on it, but you have to deal with finding a dress. How will you face Sans at work now?

You stood there frozen. Was it possible to actually die of shame? You stalked over to the pillow, grabbed it and practically ran into the bedroom. Chucking the pillow on the bed, you sank to the floor, groaning.

How could you face him again after he saw you being so creepy? Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes, but you didn't cry. Pulling yourself up, you decided to order delivery. Cooking seemed like too much effort with your mind fixated on your embarrassment.

That night when you went to bed, you'd almost forgotten about the events of the day. Until you saw the shirt wrapped around the pillow on your bed. Groaning, you got into bed and shoved the pillow off to the side, curled up away from it and went to sleep.

Blinking into the morning light as your alarm went off, you remembered you had to find a dress today. You realised your arms were wrapped around the Sans shirt pillow and smiled, until everything that happened yesterday flooded back into your mind. You held it over your face and screamed into it. It made you feel a bit better, and you got up to get ready.

You texted Tess as you went about your morning routine: _“We still on for today?”_

She replied back almost immediately: _“ya see u soon!!!”_

On your way to Tessa’s, you dropped off your beaten up coat at the dry cleaners, since they also had a tailor working there doing repairs. The lady said there was a good chance it would come back looking as good as new. And in time to wear to the party. _“At least one thing is going right so far,”_ you thought bitterly.

When you arrived, Tess flung the door open and gave you a huge hug.

“I've laid out a few dresses already,” she announced, “there's one special one I have set aside though.” She had an impish look on her face, and you side-eyed her.

“You're up to something,” you smiled at her.

“Maaaybe…” she lilted back.

You went inside, hanging up your old coat, and saw the array of dresses on her bed in the next room. All pretty, but nothing totally eye catching.

Tess put on some tea and joined you in the bedroom. As you tried on dresses, you began telling her the tale of the Sans shirt pillow and it's discovery.

“Oh my god, but why did you do that!?” Tess shrieked, setting her tea down and clapping her hands over her mouth.

You moaned melodramatically, “It seemed like a good idea at the time? I was so proud of myself, and besides, I never thought he'd **see** it!”

“Well, what did you expect!?” Tess laughed, “You invited him in, and then he could use his teleportation thing any time! Not to mention the fact you left it in the living room!”

“I knowwwwww,” you groaned and laid down on her bedroom carpet with your hands over your face, “Lord, let me die.”

“Oh, it's fine,” Tess came over and patted you on the leg, “Either he doesn't know why you did it, or he knows you like him now. Either way you're fine, right?”

“I… Guess…” you pushed yourself up and began taking off the dress you were in.

“That one's no good either, huh?” Tess raised an eyebrow. “They're all pretty!” you insisted, “I guess I'm just not blown away by any of them? Sorry…”

“No apology required,” Tess insisted, standing up and walking to her closet, “I have just the thing.” She rifled through the shelves until she found a large paper shopping bag, and pulled it out.

“I kind of cheated,” she began, “I actually bought this one thinking of you.”

“Oh, jeez, you didn't have to do that,” you said in dismay. Your best friend went to so much trouble for you, and you felt a little guilty.

“I wanted to,” Tess started pulling out things from the bag, “When I saw it, I knew it was perfect, so I picked it up for you. It was on sale, so no worries even if you hate it.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but as the dress was revealed from the bag, you fell silent.

It was breathtaking.

It was a mid thigh length party dress of shimmering blue fabric, overlaid with black netting lace.

“Right?” Tess grinned at you.

“It's beautiful, Tess,” you breathed.

“Here,” she handed it to you, with a satisfied smile. You put it on and it fit perfectly.

This was The Dress.

“Are you sure it's not too sexy?” you fretted, “I don't normally wear stuff showing this much skin.”

“Quiet, you look great,” Tessa was digging in her jewelry cabinet.

“Here,” she said, handing you a silvery necklace with a blue opalescent pendant, “this will be perfect.”

You put it on and spun in front of her mirror. It really was perfect.

“Sans won't know what hit him,” Tessa teased you.

You blushed and smacked her arm, “Shut up!”

She laughed and flopped onto her bed.

“Seriously, though, thanks,” you sat down and hugged Tess, “I don't know what I’d do without you!”

“Be much less fashionable, probably,” she winked.

As you left Tessa’s that evening after dinner, you were loaded down with the dress, the necklace, and a few of her older work shirts to replace the ones of your own you had ruined. You felt okay about the outfit you'd gotten, but trepeditious about the actual work party next Friday.

That night you sat on your bed and stared at the pillow with the shirt on it. _“Should I just stick the shirt in my drawer?”_ you wondered, _“Maybe I should wear it into work so Sans doesn't think it's still on the pillow. Wait, is that more creepy?”_

You picked it up and pressed it to your face. His scent was still on it, but fainter. You realised you were holding a non-renewable resource, and faced with the possibility of losing it entirely, you elected to put the pillow at the foot of your bed and save it for… emergencies. At least that's what you told yourself as you fell asleep.

The next day you felt a lot better about everything. You were still dreading seeing Sans again, but you were resigned to it.

 _“Whatever happens will happen,”_ you thought as you pulled out your dress to look at it.

You perked up as you heard your phone on the dresser alerting you to a text message. You figured it was Tessa so you let it sit for a bit.

Suddenly another one came through. You wandered over to grab it, and saw two new messages.

 ***sans;)** : hey

 ***sans;)** : how'd the dress thing go

Eyes widening, you took a few seconds to realise Sans was texting you. You had forgotten you'd exchanged numbers. Even after the pillow weirdness on Friday, he was contacting you.

Hands shaking, you hit the reply button, then just stared. You had no idea how to reply.

You opened a message to Tess instead.

 **You** : HE TEXTED ME

 **You** : HELP

You got a message back almost immediately.

 **Tess** : text him back dummy

 **Tess** : sorry, I have to go, movies starting

You were flying blind here. You cautiously began a message only to erase it. You decided to play it cool with, _“It went great! Got a really nice dress. How's things?”_

You spent the rest of the night waiting for a text back, but none came.

You rose the next day after some horrible nightmares. You had dreamed that you'd been fired at the work party and everyone had been laughing at you.

 _“Anxious, much?”_ you thought to yourself ruefully. You checked your phone, and there were no messages. You couldn't help but feel a mixture of disappointment and hope.

Later, at work, Misty popped over to your desk, and smiled nervously.

“Sorry about, uhhh, y’know,” she mumbled, “Not my greatest moment.”

“It's fine Misty,” you reassured her quietly, “We’ve all been there.”

“Thanks again,” she said, “I really appreciate what you did for me.” You told her it was fine and chatted a bit about the upcoming party.

The rest of the day passed without incident, except for Jeff’s occasional stares. That was so normal by this point, you didn't even consider it out of the ordinary.

That night as work ended you considered just leaving, to avoid the awkwardness of seeing Sans. If he hadn't texted you, that's likely what you'd have done. You decided to stay and work, and if Sans wanted to see you, he'd find you.

Jeff and Misty wandered over to say goodbye, and you tried to remain polite. That all changed at the next words out of Jeff’s mouth.

“No monster escort today?” he sneered. Misty’s eyes widened and flicked between you two.

“No,” you ground out between your teeth, “just finishing some work.”

"Well, see you later,” he turned to leave, “Be careful.”

You assumed the last was said with the implication that Sans was dangerous.

 _“Fucking monsterphobe pig,”_ you thought, seething internally.

“B-bye,” Misty awkwardly blurted out, and followed Jeff as he left. You would never understand what she saw in that guy.

You worked, barely able to concentrate. You glanced at the clock, and realised Sans’ shift would start in ten minutes. You opened up your phone to look at his messages again, when you heard a deep voice from behind you.

“Sorry about not replying, I fell asleep.”

You screamed as you jumped and dropped your phone under your desk.

Looking over your shoulder, Sans was standing behind you leaning against the wall.

“You shouldn't sneak up on people,” you croaked out, kneeling down to dig under your desk for your phone.

“Why not?” Sans winked, “Because people might see things you don't want them to see?”

You sat on the floor motionless, face burning. You felt absolutely humiliated. You couldn't even make eye contact.

 _“He's talking about the pillow,”_ your brain told you helpfully.

Sans was kneeling down beside you now, “H-hey, are you okay?”

You felt a skeletal hand resting on your back.

“I'm just teasing you,” Sans said in a worried voice, “Did I say something wrong?”

“I'm really sorry,” you blurted out, “I have to go.”

You stood up, grabbed your jacket and ran out the door to the stairs. Taking them two at a time, you got to the bottom, panting with exhaustion.

You walked into the cold night air as you put your coat on, and you felt tears of embarrassment freeze in the corners of your eyes.

You felt ashamed over being caught, and even more embarrassed at your reaction. Here you were, running away like a child. But you were a human, and he was a monster. Not to mention the fact he was a coworker. Of course it was impossible. You felt so stupid.

You walked the entire way home through the crunching snow in a fog of despair. Someone was going into your building and they held the lobby door for you.

You got all the way to your apartment door when you realised you had left your bag at work.

Your bag with your keys in it.

You spared a moment to reflect on how terribly you had screwed everything up, and wondered if you should face your shame by going back to work, or just text Tess and ask if you could stay with her tonight.

Your decision was interrupted by a voice behind you asking, “You needed this?”

Slowly, you turned to the figure you knew would be there.

Sure enough, Sans was standing in the dim apartment hallway with your bag dangling from his fist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, I cringed as I wrote almost this whole chapter.  
> Damn it, reader! Why did you run!? I'm so frustrated with her right now, haha.
> 
> There will be more Sans next chapter, I promise!
> 
> PS. I left the dress a bit mysterious so you can kind of pick whatever style you feel most comfortable in as you read.


	10. Preparation & Partytime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans stands before you holding your forgotten bag. Can you repair this? What can you possibly say to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Please check out this amazing song, "Skeleton Love", by Jay Stolar.](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135841310854/okay-so-everyone-needs-to-drop-what-theyre-doing) It is pretty much the theme song for this fic.
> 
> More lovely fanart from you lovely readers will be linked at the end of the story since there's so much of it since last update! Great job on all of them!

You reached out for the bag offered, as he pulled it back out of your reach slightly.

“Are you okay?” Sans leaned in and looked concerned. You'd never really seen him frown before but he was frowning now somehow.

“Yeah,” you managed to get the words out, “I'm just… dealing with a lot right now.”

It wasn't a complete lie, and you figured it would explain your erratic (and embarrassing) behaviour.

“I was just joking around,” Sans handed you the bag, and you started digging for your keys, “since you jumped so high at my apology.”

Of course, your reaction had seemed really suspicious. You were just looking at the messages he’d sent you, and you'd acted like you were hiding something worse. He wasn't even talking about the pillow, you realised with a flush of fresh shame.

“I'm sorry, Sans,” you let out a breath, “I'm just really jumpy lately. I didn't mean to freak you out. Or, uh, run away.” You still felt the heat radiating from your face in waves.

“I'm sorry too, pal,” he shoved his hands in his pockets, seemed to hesitate, but then smiled at you, “Are we good?”

“We’re good,” you said with a slightly relieved smile, “Thanks for bringing my bag. That was pretty dumb of me, huh?”

Sans shrugged, “ **Tibia** honest, we’ve all done dumb shit before. It's no big deal.”

He looked at you with his eyes a bit gentle, the glowing pupils larger, in the dim hallway as you stood there holding your key. You made a weak smile at his pun, but couldn't force a laugh.

“I'd better get going then,” Sans said quietly, “I'll talk to you later.”

“Night,” you replied.

And then he was gone.

You had the distinct feeling you had hurt his feelings.

 _“Well, that could have gone better,”_ you thought to yourself, _“but, also could have gone worse, I guess?”_

You just decided to sleep and figured things would look better in the morning.

You woke up the next day and you didn't feel any better. Had you damaged your friendship beyond repair? Did he feel too uncomfortable around you now? You decided to move forward pretending you were totally not embarrassed, as if nothing had happened.

But you couldn't help avoiding him the next day at work. You left at 5pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday, despite feeling like you'd regret it. You weren't even behind at work, all those extra hours had you mostly caught up, so it's not as if you were actually avoiding him. With most people having upcoming Christmas and holiday plans, there was less work to do in general. Your only regret was missing your charming boney coworker.

As you were writing a report at your desk on Thursday afternoon, your phone vibrated beside you. You grabbed it and saw the new message on screen.

 ***sans;)** : will you be working tonite?

You swallowed, feeling guilty.

You tapped out an answer slowly. You let it sit in your text box for a second before you sent it.

 **You** : Yeah, I'll be here.

There was an immediate reply.

 ***sans;)** : cool

You could barely concentrate for the rest of the work day, every task you did felt pointless and drawn out.

You missed Sans so much, and you felt like a shitty friend for not contacting him in so long.

You stayed after work but mostly distracted yourself on your phone. There wasn't much actual work to do. When 7pm rolled around you wandered into the lunch room to wait for Sans.

Sans strolled in a few minutes after you had sat down.

“Hey, pal,” Sans waved at you as he took a seat beside you.

“Hey!” you greeted him exuberantly.

“Everything okay?” Sans looked at you with a guarded expression on his face.

“I'm fine,” you looked down at your hands, “I'm… I’m really sorry. I missed… our lunch room chats.”

Sans relaxed a bit, and leaned back, uncapping his thermos, “Yeah, it's pretty boring in this place without you around. Got pretty **bone** -ly.”

He was grinning at you so smugly you couldn't help but burst into laughter.

“You've used that one before!” you teased him, “Multiple times!”

“Hey, you gotta use the puns or they use you!” he shrugged goodnaturedly.

“What does that even mean!?” you laughed.

He didn't answer, he just took a drink and started laughing. You felt a rush of happiness at the feeling of things going back to normal.

“So, the party is tomorrow, huh?” you changed the subject.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Sans took another sip.

“You’re still coming, right?” you leaned forward a little.

Sans paused before he spoke, “I'm not sure it's my kind of thing.”

A flutter of regret moved across your heart, and you instantly blamed yourself. “Please, you totally have to come!” you insisted, “I promise not to be weird. You can totally hang out with me and Tess and drink. Or you don't even have to hang out with me if you don't want. These parties are always great!”

During your plea, you had reached out and put your hand on his forearm. His eyes made an almost imperceptible dart down to your hands before going back to your face.

“I might show up for a bit,” Sans assured you, “just to check it out.”

“Good,” you replied, “Oh, man, I should tell you about this thing Jeff did.”

Sans looked overly cheerful at that, and said, “Oh, really?”

You told him how last week he'd tried to ask you to the party and that Misty had overheard and you'd found her crying in the bathroom after.

“Hm,” Sans looked unimpressed and pointed out, “The guy's an asshole anyway.”

“It's true, I don't know why she likes him,” you agreed.

You continued somewhat reluctantly, “and get this, earlier this week he made a big deal about you not being there to bring me home. Called you my ‘’monster escort’...”

You felt a bit bad for telling him about Jeff’s comment but you felt he should know if he was going to be at the party.

“Really,” Sans said it like a statement, and not a question. His eyes were missing the pupils again, and you realised they only did that when he was in a bad mood about something.

“It really upset me,” you said quietly, “I don't like it when people talk about my friends like that.”

His pupils flickered back and he smiled widely.  
“Thanks, pal. I'm glad we're friends,” Sans leaned back in his chair, “and I'll come to the party for sure. Wouldn't want to disappoint Jeff without your… monster escort there.”

He rolled the term “monster escort” in his mouth in a way that made you think of him doing filthy things to you.

You laughed nervously and answered, “I'm glad. You'll have a good time I promise!”

“It was nice to **ketchup** with you beforehand, at least,” Sans punned and held up his thermos to you.

Grinning, you said, “It really was. I'm sorry again. I have to get home though. Gotta get my stuff together for the party before I go to bed.”

Sans sat up a bit, and seemed reluctant to speak.

“Did you, uh, need a ride home?” he asked.

You didn't want to impose, and you still felt bad about hurting his feelings earlier, so you put your hands up to wave away the offer.

“No, no, it's fine,” you insisted, “I can make it home okay. Thanks, though.”

“Alright, take care,” Sans waved at you casually, “I guess **yule** see me tomorrow.”

You laughed at his festive pun as you left the office to catch a cab home.

That night you laid out all your party supplies and put them in a bag to bring to work. You would just get ready after work and head right over to the party. You went to sleep with a lighter heart than you'd had previously this week.

When you got to work on Friday morning, no one seemed to be able to focus. There were little groups of people chatting at desks and spikes of noise randomly throughout the day. People seemed to quiet down near you, but only because they weren't sure if Mr. Adling was in or not. No one wanted to risk angering the boss.

You saw Lisa from HR and a couple other people all congregate around Jeff’s desk. Raucous laughter rang out. Misty was among them. You felt a spark of pity for her. You knew what it felt like to like someone who didn't think of you that way.

As if she heard you thinking about her, she glanced over at you and waved. She trotted over to you and leaned in, smiling, “You excited for the party?”

“Sure am,” you replied, leaving out all your worries and concerns.

“You have a great dress I bet,” she smirked, “Mine cost like five hundred dollars. Thank goodness this party only happens once a year!”

You laughed a bit at that, “Wow, it sounds like a great dress!”

“It would have to be!” Misty joked, “For that price!”

You were relieved things were back to normal with you and Misty. She wasn't your favourite person at work, but she was nice enough.

“It will be fun to see everyone there,” you noted, right as Tess wandered over.

“Hi, Tessa!” Misty greeted her cheerfully, “we were just talking about our dresses for the party.”

Tess gave a small smile, and said, “Yeah, I bet everyone will look really great.”

The three of you made small talk for a while, as it seemed everyone had partying rather than work on the brain.

“Okay, ladies,” Misty finally announced, “I have to get back to work or I won't be able to rock it tonight.”

You all said your goodbyes and continued working. As you typed, you couldn't stop thinking about later tonight.

You were so relieved that Sans was going to be there. You thought about standing near the dance floor and Sans walking up in the suit he'd mentioned. “May I have this dance?” he would say. You'd reach out and take his boney fingers, and he'd pull you towards him. You remembered what it was like to be pressed against him, and you imagined it again as your typing slowed. You realised you were staring blankly at your computer screen.

You shook yourself and decided to focus. The last few hours of work were drawn out and boring.

Some people started leaving around 4pm, to go home, eat dinner and change. Tess came by to say her goodbyes and ask if you needed anything.

“I'm good, thanks,” you waved at her.

“Okay,” she made an excited little grin at you, “I'll see you tonight!”

Thankfully Jeff had left earlier with Lisa, Misty and a few of the guys from your floor.

At closing time you took your little bag of party supplies to the ladies room and plopped it on the counter.

You started getting ready, pulling out the soft blue dress and shaking the few wrinkles out.  
It took you about 20 minutes of adjusting your dress and necklace, and making sure everything else was perfect. You made a kissy face into the mirror and immediately felt ludicrous.

“Well, I'm as ready as I ever will be,” you addressed yourself.

You grabbed your work clothes and took them down to your desk. Leaving them there seemed like the most convenient option. You'd just bring them home on Monday.

You slipped your repaired coat on and waved goodbye to a few people on your floor, noting you'd see them in a bit.

You got to the ground floor and stood in the lobby waiting for a taxi. It was far too cold to stand outside in this outfit. You were still nervous about how small the dress was, and weren't used to showing so much skin.

The cab pulled up in front of the building, and you ran across the snowy sidewalk and gave the driver the address of the party.

When you pulled up to the venue, your nerves were shot. Thinking about seeing everyone at the party was exciting but nervewracking. You gave your name at the door and walked through to the coat check. You pulled off your coat and moved your cell phone and a few other things into your small clutch purse. Handing your bag and coat to the woman at the coat check, you glanced over your shoulder at the room beyond.

“Have fun,” the woman said as she handed you your ticket.

You thanked her and turned to the door.

This was it. The party. You took a deep breath, and walked into the dimmed room filled with pulsing music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's party time!!!!!  
> I hope everyone didn't find this chapter too boring, but there's a lot of fun stuff coming up at the party. Oh Reader, you really hurt Sans feels!
> 
>  
> 
> Fanart
> 
>  
> 
> [Readers' dress](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135885697914/eggie210-im-sorry-that-the-dress-probably-has) by eggie210
> 
> [SecurityGuard!Sans](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135885104134/eggie210-ohmygosh-ive-been-reading-this) by eggie210
> 
> [Sharptoothed SecurityGuard!Sans](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135870755739/hattiebigsky-if-you-sqint-this-could-be-fanart) by hattiebigsky
> 
> [The Pillow Incident and Readers' dress](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135838998324/thebindingbird-had-to-draw-these-just-had-to) by thebindingbird
> 
> [A cute comic](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135838959754/skeleton-may-care-between-flesh-bone-by) by skeleton-may-care
> 
> [SecurityGuard!Sans](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135838916589/sinfulkeni-for-the-lovely-ladydarkina-that) by sinfulkeni
> 
> [Readers' Dress](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135835557584/hello-heres-my-interpretation-of-dress-i-hope-you) by kurikurimix
> 
> [Readers' Dress](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135804014009/sans-and-2d-are-bae-ladydarkina-i-drew-the) by sans-and-2d-are-bae
> 
> [SecurityGuard!Sans (really hates Jeff)](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/135770192604/i-did-it-darkbluescribbler-this-lovely-piece) by darkbluescribbler


	11. Disaster & Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the party you've been looking forward to. But will Sans even show up? And will Jeff cause trouble?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one took me longer to write than I said it would. There was a lot I wanted to be perfect! Plus, it was a longer one. Please enjoy! This chapter was a delight to write.  
> <http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com>
> 
> [Fanart is here](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com) since I'm getting too much now to update a link for every post individually. I might update it later once the chapter is up. Sorry!

You walked into the crushing press of music and your eyes struggled to adjust to the dim lights.  
There were a lot of people already here, and they seemed to have clustered around the entrance and the nearest bar.

It was a pretty classy place, you observed as you dodged past people to get to a less crowded spot. Fancy decor, dapper wait staff, and a giant ice sculpture at the front. You took a left past the bar nearest the door, and noticed the large snowflakes and festive decorations hanging on the walls and pillars. There was also a massive decorated Christmas tree in the corner.

Suddenly Tess popped into your path, yelling your name and waving her hand. She was wearing a floaty ethereal cream and gold dress. Her long brown hair was done up in circles of braids with little golden leaf hairpins to fix them in place.

“Hi, Tess!” you gave her a hug, “You look amazing!”

“Same to you!” she stepped back to get a better look, “I did pretty well, I think.”

“I owe you,” you said, laughing, “So do you guys have a seat or anything?”

“Yeah, we have a table over on the quieter side. There's a room around the corner from the dance floor,” she grabbed your wrist gently and pulled, “Come on, I'll show you.”

You knew Tess liked to find a place at a party and then sit there all night, camped out. She could be trusted on to guard everyone's drinks and bags, and that's how you reassured her when she expressed apologies at being so shy.

The spot she'd found this time was really great. It was a bit quieter than most other areas, since the wall behind you seemed to muffle the sound of the music. There was a large sofa on the other side of the table which left it a bit private. And finally, there were two small dimmed chandelier type lights strewn with decorations.

“You have a true gift, Tess,” you leaned in to tell her, “You always find the best spots.”

Tess just giggled and sat down near a coworker from her floor named Rebecca. Most of the people at the table you knew by name, but not well. You assumed they'd rotate through the night as they got up to dance and then new people would find the seats. That's what usually happened at these events.

Once you were all settled, you went to grab a drink. This side room had it's very own bar station.

The lineup was reasonable, and you greeted some coworkers as you waited.

Once you had your drink and returned, you sipped at it, chatting over the din of sound. You couldn't help peering around at the people nearby.

“Looking for someone?” Tess had leaned in to subtly whisper in your ear.

“Depends,” you said, “Have you seen him?”

You gave a rueful smile, feeling a little embarrassed at your crush.

Tess just laughed, “Not yet. Is he coming?”

“Yeah,” you fretted, “We talked and he said he’d show up to check it out. Maybe he won't come at all though…”

“Don't give up hope yet,” Tessa poked you in the side, “Besides, we can totally hang out until then!”

“Cheers to that!” you held up your cup, and even though the other people at the table had no idea why you were cheering, they all joined in.

Two hours later, the room spun a little, the colorful lights scintillating in your eyes. You were definitely feeling those drinks. You hadn't seen Sans yet, and you were starting to think he might not show up.

You were standing at the bar, waiting to get another drink, when you felt a hand rest on your waist. It took barely a second for you to realise it was a human hand. You tensed and turned, unable to pull fully away in the dense crowd.

Jeff.

“Hey there, you made it,” Jeff leaned in, pulling your waist closer.

His breath reeked of booze. He'd clearly already taken advantage of the open bar.

Let's dance,” Jeff tugged you out towards the dance floor.

“No thanks,” you turned to leave, and he grabbed your wrist and started walking faster. You stumbled forwards in your barely worn fancy shoes, unused to walking in them, and you both stepped on to the dance floor.

It was packed, and you turned to Jeff once more and said somewhat frantically, “I don't want to dance, Jeff, let me go.”

“Why are you being like this?” Jeff hissed at you, “I know you want to dance with me. I know you liked those pictures of my cock.”

“No, I didn't,” you practically shouted at him, “Let me go, now!”

It was so loud and crowded that no one seemed to notice your situation.

His only reply was to grip your wrist harder, and you felt pain spark up your forearm. The bones of your wrist clicked as his hand clenched and pulled you towards him.

You grabbed his hand with your free hand and started pulling at his grip. “You're hurting me, let go!”

Suddenly Sans was standing beside you, staring at Jeff.

“Sans…” you looked at him with large eyes, as you pulled on your wrist.

“I believe the lady said no,” Sans growled.

“Fuck off, freak,” Jeff slurred, clearly emboldened by the alcohol.

“Fine, then,” Sans shrugged.

You felt a moment of horror as you thought Sans was going to leave you to deal with this yourself, but suddenly his hand darted out.

His boney fingers wrapped around Jeff’s wrist. Jeff looked truly uncomfortable for the first time this evening. Sans grinned at him, eyes dark sockets of nothingness.

“Let. Her. **Go** ,” Sans squeezed his hand tighter around Jeff’s wrist with each word.  
You felt the hand gripping you loosen, until finally you were free. You snatched your hand back close to you, rubbing your wrist gently with your other hand. Jeff lurched back, his face glistening with sweat in the coloured lights.

You glanced around, everyone was too busy dancing and drinking to have noticed. You felt angry for a second, that they could have just ignored all this.

“Whatever,” Jeff yelled at Sans through the music, “Look around, you're the only freak they hired and you don't even get to work with normal people, they stick you in there late at night when no one will see your disgusting fucking undergrounder face! You don't belong here!”

Sans stood expressionless, pupils gone.

Jeff staggered forwards drunkenly, jabbing a finger in your face, “And **you'd** better watch out, these animals will take whatever they want. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'll-”

Jeff wobbled for a second and caught his balance.

“-I'll be here when he's done with you and you've learned your lesson,” he finished angrily.

“Fuck off,” you yelled, but he was already turning to leave, pushing through the crowd.

Sans’ pupils glowed hauntingly in the dark dance floor lighting as you turned to face him. He was evidently in the suit he'd spoken of, a full three piece getup in dark charcoal grey with a blue tie.

“T-Thanks. Did you just get here?” you asked, rubbing your wrist.

“Pretty much,” he replied, “Saw you were having a bit of trouble out here.”

He winked, and you laughed nervously.

“Yeah, I… Thanks. That guy is an asshole,” you muttered.

Just then a really good dance song came on, and you looked at Sans.

“Did you, uh, want to dance?” you looked at Sans nervously as you moved a little to the beat, “We shouldn't let Jeff ruin our night.”

“I dunno if these **bones** are up to it,” he raised a brow at you, “It's more effort than I usually put in.”

“Oh, sure,” you felt bad for suggesting it, “Sorry. Never mind.”

“Hey, I didn't say no,” the skeleton added as he moved closer.

You grinned and started dancing for real.

Sans dancing was amusing to watch, you observed. He moved languidly, a mixture of bopping and swaying, without a lot of foot or arm movement. It was, without a doubt, the laziest dancing you'd ever seen. But it was still incredibly attractive somehow. It suited him.

After a bit of dancing, you shouted through the sound at him, “You look really good! Is that the suit you got for your friends’ wedding?”

He opened his eyes, and nodded, “Not usually my type of thing, but it works.”

“Very dapper,” you assured him.

“I dunno,” he had a faint blue glow to his cheeks, “If we’re judging how good outfits look, I'd say you and I are least in a **tie**.”

He tugged on his blue tie as he joked, and you burst into delighted laughter as the song came to an end.

“Thanks,” you were feeling flustered, and unused to compliments.

The next song started thumping out a rhythm. This song was gritty and dirty sounding, and you wanted to dance closer. You started dancing up against Sans a bit, brushing against him here and there. He didn't seem to mind or to move away. The booze was making you feel confident and sexy. He looked sweaty and exhausted already but made no move to stop dancing with you. You danced closer and spun around so your back was to him. Upping the ante, you pressed back into him, and moved to the music. You ground your ass into his hips, and felt the bones beneath his suit against your body.

“Damn kid, you've got some moves,” Sans wheezed out beside your ear.

You looked over your shoulder and enjoyed the nervous smile on his face.

You looked away and noticed some coworkers were watching you two dancing. Not all of the gazes were approving. You decided to maybe tone it down a little, at least for now. You pulled back and kept the dancing clean for the most part. You still swayed your hips in a fluid loop, and you weren't sure, but you thought Sans was maybe checking you out. Even so, you two were still getting looks, and you assumed it was because no one generally worked with Sans. You probably were the only person there he really knew. No wonder he hadn't really wanted to come.

The party was in full swing. Everyone was drunk. The dance floor was full and the areas with quiet sitting spaces were mostly empty.  
You had both collapsed on to the sofa after you'd gotten back from the dance floor. Tess greeted you both from her spot at the table. She gave you a knowing smile. You turned to Sans and leaned in.  
“I'll grab us some drinks,” you told him, and got up to go. He leaned back on the sofa, his head sweating, a pained exhausted look on his skeletal face.

When you got back with the drinks, Sans was chatting with Tess. She glanced over at you and waved. You sat down next to Sans on the sofa and set down his drink. He had taken off his jacket and unbuttoned the vest. He picked up the glass of red fluid you'd brought and looked at you.

“Is this…?” he began.

“It's a Bloody Mary,” you smiled, “Closest alcoholic drink to ketchup that I know of.”

Sans seemed pleased and took a small sip of the tomato vodka cocktail. Looking at you he said, “This is pretty good, I mean, it's no ketchup, but it's pretty good.”

He shot back the whole thing in one gulp and you blinked as Tess started laughing.

“Maybe you should slow down,” you laughed, “That was a double!”

He shrugged it off with a wink and set the glass down on the smaller table near the sofa. You all started chatting and joking. Tess laughed uproariously at some of Sans' puns, and he looked really pleased. You got into a conversation with him about monster food and lost all track of time.

Sans was two more double Bloody Marys in, and you were finishing off another drink when you realised Tess had wandered off, likely to the washroom.

Leaning back, giddy with alcohol and excitement, you examined the decorated chandelier above the sofa.

You realised among all the tinsel and ornaments was a sprig of mistletoe.

“Why would they put that in here as a decoration,” you stifled a drunken laugh and pointed, “It’s a work party! Awkward!”

The skeleton quirked an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, uh, well,” you stammered, “Mistletoe has this human tradition where we hang it up at Christmas and if you find yourself underneath it with someone…”

You felt incredibly awkward explaining this to Sans but he just sat there listening to you with a devious look on his face.

“Well, you have to uhh…” you blushed, “you have to kiss... the person you're under it with.”

“You have to, huh?” he pondered this, watching you as he swirled his drink.

“Well, if you want, I mean,” you managed to choke out, “That's just how it works.”

“Oh, I know how mistletoe works, babe. We have that tradition in Snowdin too,” he chuckled, eyes closed, “I just let you finish because it was so cute watching you try to explain.”

He slid one eye open, the pupil glowing in your vision. You couldn't quite catch your breath. The blue glow had spread across his face again and you realised he was was blushing. It hit you like a thunderstorm, slow and crashing, as you remembered all the times you'd been perplexed by his odd blue flush.

The moment was too perfect. There was no one around nearby, and you were both sitting under the mistletoe. He was looking at you with a cocky grin and you felt the alcohol coursing through your system.

“Sansss…” you murmured.

He leaned in, eyes half lidded, and you closed the distance with a kiss.

You felt like you were on fire. The side of your leg was pressed up against his. While he didn't have lips per se, you could feel the bones moving against your lips somehow, and he was warm. You felt his hand slide up your side, his bones catching on the lace of your dress. You hummed happily, and slightly opened your eyes to look at him.

Followed by horror, as you realised Mr. Adling, your boss, everyone's boss, had arrived, and was about to turn in your direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, you kissed! You're totally kissing him!  
> It got a bit steamy on that dance floor, hey?
> 
> God, this chapter was so fun to write! I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. :3


	12. Aftermath & Aggravation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The holiday party is over, and things are weird. Does Sans actually like you or was the kiss a drunken fluke?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for angst.  
> [My tumblr](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/)  
> [Fanart](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart)

You saw Mr. Adling about to turn towards you and you abruptly ended the kiss, pushing Sans away slightly. Sans let himself be shoved back but opened his eyes and looked at you, confused.

“It’s my boss,” you hurriedly said, the alcohol making you slur, “I have to go, sorry.”

He followed your line of sight, looking over his shoulder. You sprang to your feet and started walking to the bar, and made a subtle check over your shoulder to see if Mr. Adling had seen you. He’d gotten distracted by another coworker but looked as if he still might head over to the sofa. You couldn’t be caught by your boss kissing a coworker at this party.

The last time something like that happened a couple years ago, it was a mail room clerk and another assistant from the floor below you. The clerk got fired right there at the party. The assistant didn’t, but it came pretty close. And they almost banned the open bar policy afterwards too. Granted, you didn’t know much about what exactly happened, but you weren’t about to risk it. You’d come back after and meet up with Sans.

You felt warm, like you needed air. You found a door to a small balcony off the side of the room and went out. There were a bunch of smokers there, and the fresh air you’d hoped for was mostly smoke. But the cool air on your skin was refreshing. You’d just go back and get Sans and maybe just… keep it friendly. And maybe… take him home? Was that too bold, you wondered. You made polite small talk with a few of the smokers outside, but decided to head in when you started to feel a bit chilly.

You found Tess as you walked back inside, and told her “OH MY GOD, I KISSED HIM! I mean, he kissed me? I mean… we kissed?!”

You were happy and drunk and your words spilled out. She was delighted, and gave you a huge hug.

“Ahhh that's great,” she squealed.

When you both returned to the sofa Sans wasn’t there, and neither was his jacket. You took a glance around the room, hoping to see him.

“Have you seen him?” you asked Tess.

“No, I just got back here now, I got caught on my way back from the bathroom by people who wanted to chat …” she trailed off, “Did Sans leave, then? Didn’t you say he kissed you?”

“Shit,” you said. You had to find him.

You did a full circuit of the party, but Sans was gone.

You sent off a text to him: “hey where r u?”

But no reply came.

“Tess,” you poked her, “I'm… I'm gonna go, ok? I'm not feeling so great. I fucked up. I'll tell you about it later...”

“Okay…” Tess looked at you with concern, “you need me to come with?”

“No, I'll just catch a cab outside,” you said.

That night when you got home you drunkenly cried into the Sans shirt pillow. “I've messed everything up, what the hell was I thinking?” you sobbed harder.

That Monday you felt sad and listless working through the day. Sans had never replied to the multiple texts you had sent that weekend. You wondered if he regretted the kiss.

You got your work done, but didn't talk to anyone much. You overheard people talking about the party, but it was like a knife in your heart.

That night you ventured into the break room around 7pm, hoping to see Sans, but assuming you wouldn't.

To your surprise, he came wandering in after about 20 minutes.

“Hey,” you greeted him.

“Hay is for horses,” he winked back at you, seeming his normal friendly self, “How’s it going?” You were flooded with relief.

“Pretty good,” you laughed a bit at his dumb joke, “How are you?”

You hoped he'd explain a little why he'd left on Friday or say something related to the kiss.

“I'm fine,” he nodded, “My brother is super excited for Christmas, though. Getting a bit sick of hearing about it.”

He chuckled a bit. You decided to use his mention of Christmas to bring up the party.

“Some party, huh?” you ventured cautiously.

“Yeah, everyone was pretty drunk,” Sans replied, pointedly. His voice sounded clipped and didn't invite further questions. You decided to try anyway.

“You, um, left kinda early…” You continued, not wanting to bring up the kiss specifically.

“Yeah, it got kind of out of hand,” he said, “I was feeling those drinks, so I headed home.” His smile never faltered as he spoke, but he seemed tense.

You got the distinct feeling Sans didn't want to discuss what happened.

“Ah, y-yeah,” you managed to say, “So how is Papyrus doing?”

Changing the subject seemed to relax Sans’ entire body and he started chatting about his brother.

You listened dutifully, but inside you were dying. You had just gotten things back to an okay state after the shirt incident, and now here you were, everything was awkward and ruined.

You'd gotten drunk and kissed him, and now he was avoiding the topic like a plague. That said, he seemed friendly enough. You tried comforting yourself with the fact he clearly still wanted to be your friend. But definitely didn't want to kiss you again. Or even think about it, apparently.

You said your goodbyes after some small talk and headed back to your desk to work. You couldn't concentrate, and went home shortly after. You felt like you had a broken heart.

The next day you went for lunch with Tess and told her everything.

“But why did you run off like that mid-kiss!?” Tess looked angry at you, which was rare.

“Well,” you were taken aback at Tessa’s snapped words, “Because of those people who got caught kissing at that one party? One of them got fired right there. We almost lost the open bar because of it.”

“But… they weren't just kissing,” Tess interrupted you.

“Huh?” you were thrown off for a second.

“Those two at the party,” Tess was agitated now, “They were having sex in the side room at the party. Someone caught them with their pants down. Literally.”

“What!?” you screeched.

Tess quirked an eyebrow at you, “How did you not know that, you're Adling’s assistant!”

You were blushing now, ashamed that your information was so wrong, “I'm not HR… besides I was working a lot of overtime around then. I wasn't there when it happened and I didn't get to hear much about it after.”

“Wow,” Tess looked amused, “You should probably explain and… like, apologize. I can't believe you thought you'd get fired for smooching a coworker! Jamie and Alex were making out in the corner all night this year! No one cares!”

“Ugh, I'm so stupid,” you dropped your head into your hands.

“It's okay,” you felt Tess pat your shoulder, “I still love you.”

The next time you saw Sans in the break room, you tried to bring it up.

“Hey, so, I wanted to apologize about the party… thing,” you stated awkwardly, “some people got fired before and…”

“Look, stuff happened,” Sans eye sockets were dark, though he was smiling, “Let's try and move on. I'm willing to forget about it if you are. Friends?”

“F-friends,” you answered, voice trembling embarrassingly.

He wasn't interested in what you had to say at all. It was a mistake. You were a mistake.

You spent the next two weeks in a daze. You went through the motions at work, got it done, but felt empty. You were friendly with everyone, but there was a barrier there, blocking off your heart. You deflected Jeff's comments with hardly a care. It wasn't enough to make you angry, you could barely care about anything.

At home, you'd taken the shirt off of the pillow and stowed both in your closet. It simply hurt too much to have it around. Reminding you of what you would never have. You’d had crushes before, and gotten over them. But this hurt more than anything you'd felt before.

You still took your dinners late in the break room and Sans came through sometimes. The conversations were surface stuff, his usual puns, and talk of his brother. In fact, Papyrus was the safest subject now.

Once, as it became more comfortable, you had laughed and touched Sans’ shoulder at one of his jokes, and he'd stiffened and pulled away. You now did your best not to lean in or touch him. Needless to say, your “rides” home were off the table. Or at least, he never offered, and you never asked. Although sometimes a cab was waiting for you when you got downstairs. With the fare prepaid. You assumed it was Sans wanting you to get home safe, but not wanting to give you “the wrong idea”. Because thinking he liked you had so obviously been the wrong idea, you cringed to yourself. You felt so stupid.

Your weekends were spent curled up on your sofa, watching Netflix and eating takeout. One delivery guy brought a bunch of extra packets of ketchup for your meal, and when you opened the bag you had burst into tears. You threw all the packages in the garbage. “Fucking pathetic,” you told yourself, “Crying over ketchup!?”

You spent most of your time just trying not to remember the feeling of boney hands on your body, his warm hard mouth on yours.

Christmas came and went without fanfare, and the new year started while you remained curled up in bed. You heard fireworks outside and shut your eyes. You felt like a disaster. Crumbling to pieces over a boy.

You weren't taking anyone's calls. You answered Tess’ texts, but that was it. She knew everything and was being very gentle about it. It felt weird to you. Her extra kindness made you feel weak and pathetic.

Back at work after vacation, everyone was busy. Everything had piled up, and now your overtime shifts were no longer just you and Sans. It was something of a relief, the other people around made conversations less awkward. And the work made you feel useful, like you had a purpose, and weren't just a stupid girl curled up and pining for someone.

You felt like you and Sans were maybe still friends, because he did always seek you out in the break room. It made you feel a lot better that you still had him in your life. It made the clear rejection sting less.

One day when you were both alone in the break room, Sans said, “Papyrus misses you, y’know.”

Your heart skipped a beat.

“He does?” you asked cautiously, “I miss him too.”

“Yeah,” Sans continued, looking vaguely ashamed, “He tried to get me to invite you for Christmas, but I told him people don't normally have Christmas with their coworkers.”

“Well, you're my friends too,” you said, uncertain if that was actually true anymore.

“That's what he said,” Sans looked embarrassed, “I should have asked you at least. He made me promise to say sorry. So… uh, I'm sorry.”

He reached out and patted you on the shoulder, the first physical touch he'd instigated since the party. Your heart soared, as you remembered what it felt like to hope again. You quickly pulled yourself down to earth, reminding yourself that even if things were just becoming normal again, that was just as good. Just as good as being his lover. It was a lie you told yourself, and pretended to believe.

That night you stood to leave, and Sans mumbled something.

“What?” you looked back.

“Just thought you might want a ride home,” Sans muttered uncomfortably.

You couldn't help the smile that come to your face, “Yes, please, if… if it's okay, I mean.”

Sans stood, and walked to the centre of the break room. You kept your distance, and gripped his shoulders as you used to, not leaning in for a full embrace. As your fingers gripped his bones through the thick sweater and shirt, he let out a sigh as if something hurt.

“Sorry,” you loosened your grip.

“No, it's fine,” he reached up to grab your hand and squeezed his bones around it. He pressed it down into his shoulders and you stood there, heart clenching.

Touching him now was almost too much. Too much and not enough.

“Don't want to lose you,” he muttered.

You swallowed convulsively, “W-what?”.

“-in the void,” he finished awkwardly, “Just hold on, okay? You remember how.”

The trip was fast and jarring as always. When you realised the ground was solid under your feet you found you were clinging to Sans. His arms dropped from your waist. As you slid your arms away from his neck, his eyes closed.

“Thanks,” you said softly.

“Any time,” he replied, opening his eyes.

You realised he'd dropped you off outside your apartment building. Not even inside the lobby as he'd done before. You knew it was just another way he was making his intentions clear. You couldn't fault him at all, he was still being really kind and polite to you. Just distant. But you hurt thinking of the closeness you'd lost. The closeness you had imagined was more than just friendship.

“I'll see you later, then,” you waved.

“Seeya kid,” Sans raised one hand and disappeared.

The next day you were eating lunch at your desk when Misty popped over.  
“Soooo, crazy news, huh?” she said, leaning against your desk slightly.  
You blinked at her, not understanding.  
“Oh man, are you kidding me? It's all over the news!!! There were riots!” she came skirting around your desk, and leaned over your keyboard to start typing into the browser. You sat there politely, while being annoyed she just started using your keyboard like that. Misty had a certain way about her, and frequently did things like that.

“There,” she announced, leaning back.

Up on the screen was a news website with the headline “Couple Demands Interspecies Marriage, Cities Burn” and a large photo of a burning city block.

“What the fuck!?” you said loudly, leaning in to click.

Misty laughed, “Wow, you really didn't know? You been living under a rock?”

“I don't really watch the news, and I've been kind of having a rough time these days…” you trailed off as you read.

“Still,” Misty said, “You didn't see that diner down the street had it's windows smashed in?”

You turned to her, eyes wide in horror. The diner you'd gone to with the nice waitress? The one that seemed friendly to monster customers. You felt sick.

“N-no?” you replied, “Is everyone okay?”

“Oh, they're all fine, no one hurt,” she assured you, “Just the window needs replacing.”

“Jeez,” you skimmed the article in dismay.

She shrugged, “I guess I'm just shocked Sans never mentioned it. Aren't you two… uhh, close?”

She said it with a suggestive tone.

You cringed internally as you replied, “We’re friends, but we don't really talk about this kind of thing. I guess.”

Misty nodded, her eyebrows halfway up her head, “Friends, sure.”

“Really, just friends,” you were getting annoyed and your voice started to show it.

Misty took the warning and continued.  
“Anyway, this guy here,” she pointed at a man in one of the pictures, “he started dating this monster girl.”

You saw a photo clearly taken from the couples facebook, a young man and a beautiful tree girl at some sort of a group picnic with friends. She looked like some sort of wood nymph, and they were both laughing in the photo.

“They look happy,” you felt your chest tighten, as you imagined you and Sans together.

“Well they're not happy now,” Misty said sardonically, “basically he proposed to her, and when they went to get the papers done up the government told them to get fucked.”

You gasped, and said, “But don’t the monsters all have citizenships now? All those countries opened up for them.”

“You know as well as everyone those monster citizenships don't give full rights,” she laughed, “So anyway, they went public last week and then a protest went wrong a few days ago. Some people died or something?”

You felt nausea stirring in your gut. You'd been worried about Sans not liking you and meanwhile this was happening. Poor Sans. And poor Papyrus, the thought of that innocent skeleton being caught up in something like this made you clench your fists anxiously.

“Anyway it's all in the article,” she continued, “Thought you might want to know.”

As she walked away she added, “You should be careful.”

Little did she know there was no risk of you and Sans ever being involved like that, so her warning was useless.

Your whole floor worked late that night. Tess brought you some lemon chicken leftovers before she went home. She shot you a sympathetic look as she left.

You realised it was because Jeff was loudly talking to some of your other coworkers about the monster riots.

“I'm just saying, it's just how things are done,” he bragged, “Humans marry humans. I mean, monsters can still marry monsters. But how are we supposed to take them seriously if they start vandalizing shit whenever they want something?”

Another person piped up, “I thought a lot of the places that got vandalized were monster friendly and monster owned businesses though?”

“Pfft, yeah right,” Jeff waved his hand, “If they were it's because they did it themselves. Playing the victim.”

You couldn't take it any more, “No one would do that, Jeff, you know as well as I do that lots of humans hate monsters for no reason.”

You couldn't keep the hostility out of your voice. Jeff turned, an ugly smile on his handsome face. The room stilled.

“Well they're giving us reason now, aren't they?” he smirked.

One of his other friends nodded, and the room started up with conversation again.

Jeff was still looking at you, “Why should we give those beasts the right to marry humans? So they can take all our women?”

Another man agreed with him.

“What's wrong with their own females?” Jeff shrugged, “That they have to come up here and start taking ours?”

“Women and men can date whoever they want,” you hissed out.

“Oh shit, sorry,” Jeff simpered falsely at you, “I forgot that you and that skeleton are dating. Guys, we shouldn't talk about this, she’s actually involved with that monster who works here.”

Everyone turned to look at you, some people had the grace to look ashamed at what they'd been saying.

“Sans and I are not involved!” you practically yelled, humiliated and hurt. It was the truth, and you desperately wished it weren't so.

You felt tears stinging your eyes. Jeff looked pleased with himself, as his eyes flicked behind you and then back to your face.

“I guess you took my advice after all,” he said smugly.

Your only response was an aggravated noise as you grabbed your stuff and left the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! This chapter hurt me to write. So sad!!!! 
> 
> It will get better, I promise.


	13. Absence & Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re still angry about what Jeff said, but when Sans isn’t at work for a few days, you get worried about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans now has an outfit guide! [Check it out here!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

When you got home you were still spitting mad. You angrily threw your bag and coat where the floor met the wall, and stomped through to the kitchen to grab some food.

You realised you'd left without seeing Sans, so you wrote a quick text to him as you shoved a few crackers in your mouth.

**“Heya, sorry, couldn't stay super late tonight, I'll see you tomorrow? :)”**

You put your phone on the table beside the sofa, and went back to preparing dinner.

As you cooked and ate, you couldn't stop being angry with Jeff, for what he said. Angry with Misty who didn't actually do anything wrong, but assumed you and Sans were dating. But most of all, you were angry with yourself for not being good enough for Sans.

That night was colder than usual, and you woke up in the middle of the night, shivering. You stumbled, half asleep, to your closet to grab the spare blanket. You were greeted by Sans’ tshirt, laying half on some boxes and the pillow. Grumbling, you grabbed the spare blanket, and after a moment of hesitation, the shirt too.

Curling up in your cocoon of blankets, you buried your face in the shirt that still smelled like the laid back skeleton. You fell asleep thinking about what a bad idea it was to encourage your hopeless crush.

Sans wasn't in the break room the next two days. It wasn't so unusual, and it's not as if anything bad had happened between you two, so you weren't overly worried. The fact he’d never answered your text wasn't terribly worrying, since his track record on that wasn't exactly flawless.

After the third day, you were a bit concerned. You brought it up with Tess, who made some comforting platitudes and patted your shoulder, but it didn't really help.

  
You took a walk that night at work, away from your fellow coworkers doing overtime, into the quieter haunts of the building. Weird little concrete hallways, places where the lights had been turned off because everyone there had gone home.

You wrote a text to Sans as you wandered, making your way to the security office.

  
**“You around?”**

You didn't expect a response, but at least he'd know you were looking for him.

You came up to the security office, the label on the door. _“It's weird that I've never really been down here before,”_ you thought to yourself.

Rapping on the door with the back of your hand, you waited for a response and pushed the door open.

The room was smaller than you'd expected, and Sans clearly wasn't there. There was a desk with a few monitors, all showing a live feed of areas around the office. They flicked through different cameras as you watched. Just then, it swapped to footage of everyone in the break room, and on another feed you saw some people still working on the 3rd floor.

  
There wasn't much else in the dark little room; just a wheeled office chair, a mini fridge and a wastebasket filled with junk food wrappers.

  
You smiled as you noticed a picture of Sans and Papyrus taped to the bottom of one monitor.

Sighing, you decided to head back to your desk. You sat down and logged back in to your workstation. Suddenly, you had a nagging thought that maybe Sans had gone on vacation? Or even quit? He hadn't mentioned anything, but with the way the riots had caused such upheaval in the monster world, you couldn't just assume.

You could just… check the staff roster. You felt a little guilty doing this, even though as Mr. Adling’s assistant you technically had every right to check. You felt your face burn as you entered Sans’ name into the database. He was still listed as current staff, no sick days, and the only vacation time he'd put in for was in the spring. _“That solves that,”_ you thought, chewing your lip, _“but where is he lately?”_

You packed up and left the office then, and walked through the cold with a purpose. When you came to your street, you turned the opposite way. Your breath fogged as you knocked on the door to the skeleton brothers’ house.

Papyrus opened the door and let out a loud “HUMAN!”, grabbing you and pulling you into a hug.

You started laughing and squirmed to get down

  
“Hey Papyrus! How's it going?” you asked as he set you back on your feet on the welcome mat.

  
“Very well, indeed, human!” the lanky skeleton cheerfully launched into a long rave about how his holidays had gone, as you stood and listened, shivering a bit in the cold.

“I missed you,” he finished his long ramble with a sad little noise, “my brother missed you too.”  
You felt your heart clench and remembered why you were here.

“Speaking of Sans,” you piped up, “is he around?”

Papyrus opened his mouth to speak, and then stopped himself awkwardly.

“He's at work,” Papyrus answered with an uncomfortable look on his face, “I shouldn't say any more.”

You were confused and felt a vague sense of dread as if you'd really fucked up.

“Papyrus, is everything okay?” you asked.

“It's fine… just,” he stalled out, “you should probably go. I'm sorry. The Great Papyrus has… uhh, spaghetti to cook.”

And with that he shut the door in your face.

You almost laughed at the absurdity of the whole situation. Since when did Papyrus act like this?

You knocked on the door again, calling out, “Hey, what's going on, talk to me.”

You heard a muffled, “I'm sorry, human, I'm… busy. I'm… really sorry.” You thought you heard a faint sob.

You figured it was no use standing out here in the cold arguing with him through the door, so you walked home in a daze.

Papyrus was fine until you mentioned Sans. What on earth had Sans told him? You thought things had been fine lately. You had a weird mix of anger and sadness roiling in your gut. You went to bed, but barely slept.

You had vague dreams of Sans rejecting you over and over again, all over town, while Papyrus cried.

The next day you woke up feeling only anger. How dare Sans ghost on you like that? And whatever he had said to Papyrus had clearly really upset him. You were going to find Sans tonight. And force him to talk with you.

You had lunch with Tess the next day.

“I don't know what Sans told him, but Papyrus seemed really upset when he sent me away,” you took another bite of lunch.

“Oh man, that's awful,” Tess covered her mouth, "You said his brother is really sweet. It doesn't sound like he wanted to to do it.”

“He really didn't,” you rested your chin on one hand.

“So you're going to confront Sans tonight?” she asked you.

You twitched a little at her phrasing.

“Confront is such a… scary word,” you sighed, “but yeah.”

“Good luck,” Tess placed a gentle hand on your back, “I'm sure it'll be fine.”

“Thanks, Tess,” you smiled at her gratefully.

That night you packed up your things around 7:30pm and set off for the security office. If he wasn’t in the office you would just wait there for him.

Sans was leaned back, sleeping with his feet on the desk when you opened the door.

“Sans?” you spoke up, “Are you awake?”

He slid one eye open.

“Sure,” Sans remained laying on the chair as he was, not moving.

“Can we… talk?” you asked.

“Sure, pal, what do you want to talk about?” he asked you in a tone as if you were just meeting him.

“You… know what about,” you said, annoyed, “You’ve disappeared on me. I never see you, you won’t answer my texts. I went and saw Papyrus and he was acting so weird, and sent me away, even though I could tell he didn't want to. What did you say to him?”

Sans’ eyes narrowed very subtly then went back to observing you impassively.

You stepped forward.

“I get that maybe I went too far at the party and you wanted to pretend it didn’t happen,” you continued, “but why do this now? It was ages ago. I thought we’d moved past it!”

“Wow, you’re really gonna do this, huh?” Sans looked faintly amused.

“Do… what?” you hadn't expected this reaction, to be honest.

Everything about this was throwing you off. Your anger had melted away into confusion.

“Fine. I'm a pretty observant guy,” he said, expressionless, “Like, I get that you like me.”

“I d-” you made an effort to agree as your face got warmer.

“And I know you don't really have anything personal against monsters yourself,” he continued, cutting you off as he pulled his legs down from the desk and sat up. He rolled the chair to the side so he was facing you.

You just shook your head this time.

“But you know how people treat us,” he continued, “You're a nice kid, and I'd hate to see you get stuck with all that. It would kill you. And all you'd get out of it would be this ol’ bag of bones.” Sans gestured to himself and sighed. “Plus, after you ran off on me that one time, it just didn't seem smart. It was red flags all over the place, kid.”

You just stood and listened, feeling ashamed. Feeling your heart break for him. Feeling it break for yourself.

“But you pushed and pushed. After you took off I thought that was it, but you wanted me at that damned party,” Sans shook his head.

You were locked to the spot, listening to your rejection being spelled out to your face. It was worse than you had imagined. In your anger, you'd felt brave and pumped up. Now it seemed like a stupid idea, a pointless exercise in hurt feelings. You swallowed, but your mouth was dry.

“But at the party… I was drunk, and I couldn't…” he paused here, seemingly having difficulty getting out the words, “...couldn't stop myself. I knew it was a bad idea to pull you into my world and I just… didn't fucking care any more.” He shrugged.

“I wanted you,” he looked away, “for myself.”

Your breath caught in your throat and you were suddenly flooded with desire. Was this not the rejection you'd feared? _“He wants me,”_ your mind sang in a frenzied rhythm.

“But when we kissed…” his eyes went black as his head turned back to you, “I saw your reaction. Even thinking back to when we were dancing. You didn’t want them to see. You’re ashamed of me.”

“No!” you were horrified. Sans thought you were some sort of closeted monsterphobe? You felt tears well up in your eyes, “I-”

He cut you off again.

“Cut the bullshit,” he said in a flat voice, “I know humans. I watch the news. I know you want me, but you don’t want people to think you’re some kind of a dirty monster fucker.”

“No, that’s not-” you sobbed out.

“I thought I was maybe imagining it after the party. Thought it was fine when you were okay around me in the crowded break room. But then I heard what you said to him,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “Honestly, I’m over it.”

“Said what to who?” you were honestly confused.

Sans laughed joylessly, “I heard what you told that asshole. _‘I’m not involved with Sans.’_ So quick to chuck me aside, even to that guy. Did his words at the party affect you that much?”

He had heard what you told your coworkers when you yelled at Jeff. Oh god.

“How could you think that!?” you raised your voice, “You and I **aren’t** involved! What was I supposed to say? You rejected me!”

Sans’ voice became filled with emotion suddenly as he stood up, “I won’t be your dirty little secret. I won’t be the **skeleton in your closet**!” he spat out.

You’d never seen him come close to this level of quiet intensity. You took a step back.

“That’s not how I feel,” you protested.

“You were drunk at the party, I get it, kid,” he sounded completely calm again, “I’ve been on the surface for 2 years now. Honestly, I understand. With all the shit that’s been going down lately, I knew it would be a bad idea to get involved. Being with me wouldn’t make your life any easier. I can't blame you. I was being... selfish... to let you think we could have something together.”

  
To anyone else, Sans would have looked totally normal, but you knew him well by now. You could tell he was strained and sad.

You had to make this right.

“I wouldn’t be ashamed of you! I don’t care that you’re a monster! I just didn’t want my boss to see me making out with a coworker at the party! I had thought someone got fired for that one year, except… they were actually having sex, but I didn’t know that part when I ran off!” you blurted out at the skeleton, “I tried to explain but you wouldn't let me!”

He actually looked as if he was considering your words for the first time.

“And for what it’s worth,” you said angrily, “I kissed you at the party because I **wanted** you!”

Sans swallowed and stared at you. He then let out a small sigh.

“You…” his hands clenched at his sides as he stood in front of you, “This can't work… what about what you told that asshole?”

  
Sans stared at you, clearly unimpressed.

“He was talking about monsters ‘stealing’ human women,” you muttered unhappily, “I told him people can date whoever they want, and he told everyone I was dating you.”

Sans actually looked shocked at this, and quirked an eyebrow at you, “Did he, now?”

“I told them we weren't. Because we aren’t. That's what you heard,” you met his gaze, “that's it.”

You both stared at eachother for a second. There were so many things you both couldn’t take back, and they lay in the air between you, soundless. You felt frozen, floating away in icy waters, not sure what to say.

Sans was the one who closed the distance, stepping into your personal space. 

The look on his face was cautious hope, and a little bit of suspicion.

“Even if you’re only playing with me, kid,” Sans hissed out, “Just… I...”

He shook his head without finishing.

You felt the bones of Sans’ fingers slide across your scalp as he ran his hands around the back of your head.

He looked infinitely sad for a second, then leaned in and kissed you.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh, this chapter was so fun! Definitely a step up from last chapter, which made me super duper sad. ;_;
> 
> That smooch is going to continue in the next chapter. Just so you know. ;)
> 
> I want to thank all my incredible readers for supporting me and recommending the fic and messaging me and drawing art. You are all the most welcoming, sweet family of sinners, and I love you all.


	14. Smooches & Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s happening. Sans is kissing you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

Sans was kissing you. Your mind could barely process it.

This kiss wasn’t like the slow sweet interrupted kiss at the party, this was intense and crashing. The boney lips were moving and pressing into your mouth and your teeth kept knocking against them.

You grew bolder and licked across his teeth slowly. Sans made a low rumbling sound in his chest. You whimpered and melted against him, eyes closed, as you felt his jaw open.

You’d never seen Sans open his mouth, even when drinking.

But it was sliding open now, against your mouth, and there was a flash of light through your eyelids. You opened your eyes to see his left eye flash blue again, right as a tongue slid into your mouth.

You would have gasped, but all that came out was a long moan, as you felt him kissing you deeply. His tongue was warm and soft, and smoother than a human tongue. One of the hands that was threaded through your hair had moved down to your waist, and he grabbed your side and pulled you towards him roughly. You could feel his bones through the layers of clothing, his ribcage digging into you, despite the sweater.

You ground your body into him and grabbed desperately at his back. He was making little nipping bites and licks at your lips as he gripped your waist. You could smell his wintry dusty scent, and it was intoxicating.

Somehow, Sans had backed up to the rolling office chair. You felt his hands slip down to the backs of your thighs, hard fingers gripping. You let out a small noise of surprise as he simultaneously lifted your legs and dropped backwards into the chair. You landed on him with a thump, as the chair tilted back, too far to balance. There was a dropping feeling in your stomach, and you yelped as you realised the chair was going to tip over. Your heart skipped a beat and you grabbed Sans’ shoulders and shut your eyes. The chair bounced back to its proper place and you sighed in relief.

You leaned back a bit, breathing heavier, realizing you were straddling Sans now. Your legs were draped over him and hanging down the sides of the chair. Sans slid one hand up your waist once more, as the other one grasped at your ass, squeezing gently.

You giggled a bit at Sans’ little maneuver, and he murmured, “Knew I could make you **fall** for me…” shooting you a heated look.

He didn't wait for a response, but leaned his head into your shoulder on one side. Sans scraped his teeth across your neck and gently bit, as he ran his tongue along the vein there. You gasped and grabbed at his shoulders. It was too much, you were a live wire, nerves sparking. He chuckled deep into your ear at your reaction and pulled you closer.

You leaned into him, squirming against his lap and sliding your fingers up the back of his neck bones where his spine met his skull.

He groaned then, hands tightening on you, and bit down on your neck harder. You made a loud keening sound, and his hips rocked up into you.

It was at that moment you realised two things. One, that your panties were absolutely soaking wet. And two, that Sans was very clearly aroused, and you could feel the evidence pressing against your drenched core.

You spared a thought to ponder how he could possibly have a dick, but decided you were going to just enjoy this. You couldn't believe this was happening. Your fevered dreams of the last couple of months were coming true, right now as you rubbed up against the uniformed skeleton.

Suddenly, there was a loud alarm coming from seemingly everywhere. You half jumped, half slid off Sans’ lap, feeling guilty suddenly. The klaxon was so loud it felt like it was inside your head.

“Shit,” Sans was mumbling and standing, looking torn between checking on you and whatever the alarm was for.

“Sorry, babe,” he laid a hand on your arm, “Gotta check this out.”

You could barely hear him over the sound of alarms.

He leaned in to a computer screen readout on the desk, then blipped out instantaneously. You stood there, panting, and you knew your hair was completely messed up. You considered sitting on the chair while you waited for him, but realised your panties were going to leave a huge wet spot if you did that. And that was too embarrassing to consider, so you looked towards the desk to see if you could see where Sans was on the cameras.

The alarm was still shrilling in your ears and you got a surge of rage at being interrupted. You'd finally gotten what you wanted, and now the moment was over. You thought back to the argument you'd had with him right before he kissed you, and couldn't help but feel there were still things you needed to clear up. He didn't seem like he really trusted you yet, and that killed you a little. But kissing him had been the most perfect sweetness. And riding him in the chair had been intoxicating and you only wanted to continue. You were still on fire, body still aching for him. The tenseness in your pussy was combining with the cold dampness of your panties now, making you uncomfortable, and you just wanted to strip them off and finish right here with Sans.

You let out a frustrated groan, and just then Sans popped back in beside the desk.

“Looks like a skunk knocked a garbage can into the back entrance and set off the alarm,” Sans sounded annoyed, “judging from the smell at least.”

He typed something quickly on the keyboard, and the alarm finally quieted.

“I've got to go… clean up and check in with anyone who's still here,” he mumbled, “and I, uh, don't want to raise a **stink** , but maybe we shouldn't do this.”

He noticed the look on your face and added, “Here, I mean.”

He was blushing that sweet faint blue you hadn't seen for a while, and you nodded, embarrassed somehow.

“Yeah,” you agreed, “I'll… I should head out, but I'll see you on Monday?” You looked at him hopefully. You didn’t want to be too forward and ask to call him on the weekend. There was no time right now, and you felt weird about it, given your discussion earlier.

You decided to yourself you were going to text him anyway.

“Yeah, I'll see you in the break room,” he assured you, face sincere.

You grabbed your bag that had fallen to the floor during the make out session, and awkwardly made your way out of the office.

You realised you'd forgotten your keys upstairs, and went back up to your floor, smoothing your hair down as you went. A few people were still there, and you really hoped your hair wasn't too crazy, and that your lips didn't look too swollen from kissing. You needn't have worried, though, since everyone was distracted from the alarm going off, and a few people asked if you knew what was going on.

“Not sure,” you lied, “I just came back because I forgot my keys.”

Then you heard Sans’ voice behind you, “Sorry folks, false alarm.”

You turned to look and he was standing near the doors, hands in his pockets. He'd evidently changed his pants, as there was no telltale wet spot on his crotch from you. You flushed and went back to your desk.

“Just a skunk. You may not want to head home along the back street unless you want to smell pretty funky,” Sans quipped, and a few people laughed.

Jeff was not one of the people laughing. He sat at his desk with a sour look on his face, clearly trying to ignore Sans.

Leaving the small chattering group of overtime workers to talk amongst themselves, Sans sauntered over to you.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey,” you answered back, feeling shy somehow.

“So a couple of my friends are in town tomorrow, and we’re going to grab some dinner,” Sans shrugged, “I thought maybe you might want to come with.”

Sans looked incredibly uncomfortable, sweat appearing on his skull.

“Y’know, cause, uh, Papyrus misses you and stuff,” he added.

You felt your cheeks heat up as a smile started spreading on your face uncontrollably.

“Well, we shouldn't disappoint Papyrus then,” you grinned at Sans.

“Yeah,” he brightened up at your reply, “That would just be mean.”

“Too cruel,” you laughed.

“You like Italian?” Sans asked, “We’re probably going to this place, _Il Tramonto_ , near our house.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that place,” you grew excited, “I’ve been meaning to go! I bet they’ll have some great spaghetti there.”

“Heh, yeah,” Sans nodded, “Anyway, I, uh, yeah. Cool. I'll text you tomorrow, then.”  
  
“‘Kay,” you replied happily.

You snagged your keys and left, avoiding Jeff’s gazing eyes as they followed you out of the office.

 

You got home and quickly threw off your coat and bag. You were practically vibrating with tension, and you went through to your room, stripping off your clothes. Your panties peeled away, chilly and soaked. You grabbed Sans’ shirt and climbed on to the bed. You grabbed one breast, pressing the shirt into your face, as you started caressing your swollen clit. Pinching the nub between your fingers, you imagined Sans’ amazing, newly revealed tongue working it's way into you and his teeth scraping, and that was all it took before you were coming, coming, coming. Faster than you'd ever orgasmed in your life, and so intensely you felt dizzy.

You laid on your bed like that, gasping as you came down from your peak, still thinking of the skeleton.

You finally got up, legs still weak, and decided to go have a shower.

As the hot water beat down on your skin blissfully, you ran your hands back down your head. You couldn't stop thinking about Sans, and you weren't sure you wanted to. You felt like you were on some sort of drug, everything felt floaty and unreal. You couldn't stop replaying the kiss in your head, going over it again and again. You never wanted to forget the events of tonight, and you tried to engrave what happened in your mind.

And now you had a date with him tomorrow night. Or, it sounded more like meeting his friends in a group hangout, but you didn't care. You'd take it. You'd missed him so much when he wasn't talking to you, and you couldn't wait to see him again.

Sans had thought you were a bigot, though…  you paused, your hands stilling on your body. You felt ill all of a sudden. Sans thought you were willing to fuck him but not willing to admit you were with him. He thought you feared people's judgement more than you lo- liked him.

You closed your eyes and put your head back under the hot water. You vowed to yourself you would show him you cared about him. And first things first was messaging Tess to borrow an outfit for dinner tomorrow night. You spared a thought to wonder what his friends were like, and if they would like you. You were a heady mix of nervous and excited, but you were prepared to make this the best “kind-of-a-date” ever. And maybe this time you could finish what you started in the security office. You smiled into the water at the thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW. Got kinda hot in there. POOR READER. I'm so sorry, I know y'all were hoping for some security room sexings.  
> But this was always going to happen! IT WAS IN THE STORY OUTLINE! Sorry.
> 
> They'll do it eventually, I promise. It's gonna get sexy.


	15. Texts & Trattoria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for your "kind of a date" with Sans and his friends at the Italian restaurant. How will it go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went long, so I'm splitting into two shorter ones! Please enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
>  
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

When you got out of the shower you felt relaxed and limp. You grabbed your phone and texted Tess.

 **You** : Hey, guess who has a date tomorrow?

You got a reply almost instantaneously.

 **Tess** : “OMG WAT!!!!???? You???? SANS???

 **You** : Yesssssss!!!! Well it's not a date exactly, but I still need to borrow a dress, if that's okay…

 **Tess** : OMG anything you need! Come over any time tmo, I'm running errands in the morning so I'll be back around 10am.

You texted Tess a thank you and then headed to bed. You had a good feeling about this weekend.

The next day, you were getting ready to head out around 2:30pm, when your phone alerted you. It was a text from Sans.

 ***sans;)** : hey, we’re all meeting at il tramonto around 6, if you're still up for coming with.

You smiled at the name he had entered for himself so long ago. You tapped out a reply.

 **You** : Sounds good!

 ***sans;)** : cool. how's it going?

 **You** : Pretty good. I have to head over to Tess’ place now to get something to wear tonight :P

 ***sans;)** : tess? she’s that girl from work?

 **You** : Yeah, I think you two talked at the party? She's pretty much my best friend.

 ***sans;)** : cool. that’s nice of her. why not bring her along?

 **You** : What? Are you sure?

 ***sans;)** : sure. you don't wanna be the only human there, right? ;) besides, you're meeting our friends, we should meet yours too.

You grinned at that. Sans was really trying to make you feel included. It was a tempting offer. You were kind of nervous about meeting his friends, after all. It would be nice to have her there. Not to mention that Tess had expressed interest in hanging out with Sans and Papyrus too. Which was probably your fault for talking about them with her so much.

 **You** : I'll ask her! Thanks!

 ***sans;)** : cool. the reservation is under “snowdin”. see you tonight.

You felt your heart flutter a bit as you shoved your phone in your bag and left for Tess’ place.

You knocked on Tess’ door when you arrived, and heard, “Come in!!!”

Letting yourself in, you yell back, “I could be anyone!” You chuckled as you locked the door behind you.

Tess came wandering in, drying off her hands with a towel.

“Sorry, I was just cleaning a bit!” she apologized, “Wasn't sure when you'd show, so I just left the door unlocked.”

“You know it drives me crazy when you do that!” you shook your head, “I’d rather wait outside for an hour than worry about your door being unlocked.”

“Sorry!” Tess looked chagrined, “I'll stop, I promise.”

You both headed into the bedroom, and you asked, “So what's new at Tess’ Dresses?”

“Hmmm, not much since last time, I'm afraid,” she shook her head, “but keep in mind I was pulling my party dresses. I don't think you'll need that kind of thing for… wait, what are you guys doing?”

“Sans has some friends visiting from out of town, and he and Papyrus invited me to grab Italian with everyone,” you smiled, “And actually, you’re invited too!”

“I am!?” Tess looked shocked but pleased.

“Yeah, it's at Il Tramonto, that newish place near us,” you told her.

Tess’ eyes lit up, “We’ve been meaning to go there!”

“Exactly,” you pulled out a few dresses and blouses to look at, “You free around six?”

“Yes! I.. of course!” Tess looked excited but then cautious, “You're sure it's okay? I know I can be weird around new people. Also, it's kind of your first date with Sans?”

“Tess, please come,” you tossed a skirt on the bed and put your hand on her shoulder, “I'll be sad if you don't.”

“I will, then!” she said cheerfully, “Now let’s both find outfits!”

You and Tess wandered into the dim foyer of Il Tramonto. You'd chosen a slinky black dress, and Tess was in a smart white dress with 2 thick black vertical stripes. You were incredibly nervous. You looked over at Tess and she seemed a bit nervous too. A dark haired man looked up from the host station and smiled.

“Hello,” he said with a slight Italian accent, “do you have a reservation?”

“Yes we do,” you answered, “under ‘Snowdin’?”

Gathering up some menus, he said, “Right this way.”

The decor was beautiful, it was a little fancier than you were expecting. You mentally thanked Tess’ for her suggestion that a “little black dress is always best”. You were shown to a large round table near the back of the restaurant.

There were two people seated there already, both monster women. Sans and Papyrus clearly hadn't arrived yet. The host pulled a chair out for each of you and you sat down beside the blue woman who looked like some sort of sea creature. She was wearing tailored black slacks, and a slim-cut dressy red button up shirt. Tess took the seat beside you. The host laid the menus down, said he would send the waiter over to get your drink orders, and walked off.

“You must be Sans’ friend,” the fish woman said, “I’m Undyne. This is Alphys.”

She jerked a clawed thumb to her right, at a nervous looking monster woman who looked like a yellowish lizard or dinosaur in a shimmery red dress.

You gave your name, introduced Tess, and grabbed the menu.

There was an awkward silence as you stared at the selection and tried to choose a drink.

When the waiter came back you ordered a ginger ale, and Tess ordered a coke. You noticed the two other women already had drinks.  
Thank goodness the restaurant wasn't busy, because he was back within a couple of minutes with your orders.

The sea monster lady leaned forward, a sneer on her face as the waiter placed your glasses on the table. You weren't used to seeing so many sharp teeth directed at you. “Heard about the pillow thing,” she said, “Pretty pathetic, there.”

You felt your stomach clench as the polite smile on your face cracked.

“H-hey now, Undyne,” the lizard woman (was her name Alphys?) stammered, “B-be nice.”

Undyne huffed as Alphys leaned over and said, “Before we s-started dating I had a dakimakura made of Undyne. That's a-a Japanese hug pillow, it h-had art of her on it.”

You weren't quite sure what to say to that so you just nodded and shot Tess a frantic look. Tess peeked over the menu at you with a barely hidden smile. No help at all.

“S-so really what you did wasn’t even as b-bad as that. I mean Sans gave the shirt t-to you by choice, after all,” Alphys finished triumphantly.

“Sans… told you guys about the pillow thing?” was all you could squeak out as you felt your face flushing.

“He sure did! How could he keep a hilarious story like that to himself!?” Undyne took a chug of her beer and slammed it on to the table, “I’d never forgive him!”

“Sans just asked us what it might m-mean that you had put his old shirt on a pillow. He didn’t quite u-understand… what that might mean. I mean, he had…” Alphys paused to laugh in a suggestive way, “ **ideas** of what it might mean, of c-course. But I think he just wanted to be… certain.”

Undyne jabbed you in the shoulder with a clawed finger, “You totally wanted the D!” she crowed.

“Oh my god!” you yelped out, right as the host showed Sans and Papyrus to the table. You were torn between relief that they had shown up, and dread that Undyne might continue this tack of conversation.

As Sans walked over, he glanced at Undyne, who nudged Alphys. They both quickly shifted over two chairs, and Sans sat down beside you where Undyne had been.

Papyrus looked around at the decor delightedly and took the last chair beside Sans.

They were both dressed in button up white shirts, and dark slacks. You suspected the shirt and pants Sans was wearing must be from his work uniform.

“Hey,” Sans greeted everyone with a wave.

“Hi, everyone!” Papyrus was clearly in a fantastic mood, and grabbed the menu immediately, “It’s so good to see everyone! I missed you all so much!”

You and the other two monster women greeted the brothers happily.

“Sans, I know you've met Tess already,” you piped up, “Papyrus, this is Tess, she works with Sans and I.”

“Greetings, Tess!” Papyrus grinned at her as Tess waved across the table, “any friend of my brothers’ is a friend of mine! Also, you keep company with a very fine human indeed!”

You blushed and waved it off, “Aw, jeez, Paps, you're too kind to me.”

“Did my brother apologize for not inviting you to Christmas?” Papyrus seemed very concerned.

“He did,” you felt slightly uncomfortable now.

Sans looked up from his menu and quipped, “This menu is so long it seems im- **pasta** -ble to decide what to get.”

The table filled with groans as you and Tess giggled at Papyrus’ enraged reaction. Alphys slapped Undyne on the back as she choked on a gulp of beer.

Just then, the waiter returned to take everyone's orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm enjoying writing Undyne more than I thought I would! 
> 
> Another chapter coming up in a few minutes.


	16. Waiters & Weddings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your "kind of a date" dinner gets more awkward, as heavy topics are brought up and Undyne gets confrontational.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter!
> 
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

  
The waiter leaned in to Sans first, and he ordered pappa al pomodoro in what sounded like fairly decent Italian, while Papyrus ordered spaghetti bolognese and an orange soda with great enthusiasm.

Undyne said, “I'll have the conchiglioni rigati al forno, and my fiancée here will have the tagliatelle uovo e formaggio.” She looked very pleased with herself.

Alphys said, “Thanks, sweetie,” and gently rested a clawed hand on Undyne’s arm.

Tess ordered the spaghetti marinara and Papyrus spoke up then, “A wonderful choice!!!! Spaghetti is truly the greatest pasta!”

“I like to think so,” Tess replied shyly.

You were proud of Tess, she was normally very quiet in situations around new people, but she was doing well tonight, despite all the awkward moments.

You stared at the menu and realised it was your turn and you'd barely looked at the food. You hurriedly ordered the l'agnello a scottadito without seeing anything but that it was on the entree list, and handed the menu back.

Alphys snickered a bit and Undyne shot her a curious look.

Alphys leaned over to whisper in her ear just as Papyrus spoke up.

“I was watching TV and saw a special on something called ‘escape rooms’!” he said loudly, “I had no idea people on the surface also enjoyed puzzles so much!!!”

This kickstarted an involved discussion about puzzles, and which type were the best. It lasted even after the food arrived.

Everyone dug into their food with gusto, even Sans, whose food looked something like a thick tomato soup. “The guy sure loves tomatoes,” you thought to yourself.

You looked down at your food and it seemed like some sort of meat popsicle looking things with a side of mixed vegetables. You shrugged and began eating the meat with your hands, as the bones at the ends were clean and dry. They were delicious.

Partway through the meal, you realised Sans was sweating, and looking rather uncomfortable.

You paused from your eating and asked him, “Are you okay? Is what you ordered spicy?”

“Yeah, Sans, are you okay?” Undyne asked, shrieking with laughter. Alphys snickered beside her.

Tess and Papyrus twirled their spaghetti and looked around innocently and slightly perplexed.

“I'm fine,” Sans mumbled out, teeth gritted.

Papyrus seemed concerned then, “Sans? What's wrong?” The taller skeleton leaned in to lay a boney hand on Sans’ shoulder.

Undyne waved a webbed hand and said, “He said he's fine. How's everybody's food?”

She grinned at you like a cat that ate a canary and asked, “Enjoying those ribs?”

You froze, your lips wrapped around the bone you were eating the meat from. Ribs. You ordered ribs. You'd been sitting here putting bones in your mouth all meal. Beside two skeletons. Was it rude? Was it a breach of etiquette?

You turned to Sans and Papyrus and frantically apologized, “I'm so sorry, is it rude to eat bones in front of you? I didn't know!!!!”

Alphys was practically crying with silent laughter and was a worrying shade of dark orange. Tess’ hand had crept up to her mouth as she realised what Undyne was getting at.

You noticed Sans was blushing blue, in fact, he was practically glowing.  


Papyrus said, “No, why would it be rude?” in confusion.

Oh. Your face flushed and you placed the meat on your plate and grabbed a knife and fork. “S-sorry,” you muttered.

You hadn't even considered the idea that Sans might be thinking about you sucking on his bones, and you felt incredibly embarrassed. For your sake and for Sans’ as well. You weren't sure you liked this Undyne lady.

Sans leaned back awkwardly and asked, “So, uh… how's the wedding planning going?”

“P-pretty good,” Alphys answered, “Undyne deals with most of the v-vendors now, though.”  


You heard a low hissing sound, and realised it was coming from Undyne.

“This shithead florist made her cry,” Undyne growled menacingly, “She started asking Alphy if she was one of those ‘interspecies marriage protesters’, although that's not the word she used.”

Undyne looked furious and terrifying.

“O-oh, no, it was p-probably my fault for not being clear…” Alphys stammered.

The fish woman slammed her hand on the table, causing the other patrons near you to glance over.

“It wasn't your fault, sweetie,” Undyne sounded angry as she comforted her girlfriend, and turned back to the rest of you, “Anyway, she started giving Alphy a hard time, was a total racist. Implied she was going to cancel the whole order we made months ago! Alphys ran out of there crying, and called me.”

“That's terrible,” you breathed out, shooting the blushing Alphys a sympathetic look. She smiled back at you gratefully.

Papyrus nodded, and said, “Truly, it is a terrible thing to do! Love is always a good thing!”

Undyne shrugged, “Anyway, I came down to check things out, explained I was Alphys’ fiancée. And then that woman seemed just as unhappy about us both being female as she was about the whole monster-human deal!”

“Stupid,” Sans shook his head.

You and Tess just nodded as you ate.

Undyne continued, “I pretty much told her she made the woman I love cry. And asked her how **she** would feel if I made one of **her** loved ones cry.”

Papyrus looked enchanted and leaned forward, spaghetti still twirled on his fork, “So you convinced her with the power of love!?”

“I told her it made **me** feel like ripping off someone's arms,” Undyne leaned back and took another drink, “She was pretty cooperative after that.”

The fish woman grinned with her sharp teeth, as Sans let out a guffaw.

Alphys, Tess and Papyrus just looked slightly uncomfortable.

“W-we have the flowers all booked for s-sure now,” Alphys jumped into the conversation again, “And I t-think that's everything. Napstablook is the DJ, Mettaton is the MC. So we won't n-need to chase them around.”

“Good stuff,” Sans nodded, “It's a good thing you're handling the vendors, you don't want them to… take you for a b **ride**.”

Sans looked up at the rest of the table impishly. Everyone at the table burst into laughter at the broken tension. Even Papyrus, although you noticed he shot Sans a dirty look right before he started giggling.

Undyne raised an eyebrow at you and asked, “So… what do you think about monster rights?”

You realised she was talking to you again, “M-me? I'm for them. I think everyone should be equal.”

Sans was finishing off his soup, and looked as if he wasn't paying attention at all. You had the feeling he was actually listening intently.

“Easy to say,” Undyne crossed her arms and threw her napkin on her empty plate, “What have you done to help?”

“H-hey, be nice to her,” Alphys defended you, “She seems okay.”

Papyrus joined in, “She is a good and noble human! She defended me to a rude waitress!!! A waitress who didn't even like spaghetti!!!”

Papyrus sounded more affronted by the spaghetti than anything else, and Tess started laughing awkwardly. She stopped laughing when she realized no one else was. The table was thick with tension.

You and Undyne stared at eachother while Sans simply sat there casually eating the last of his soup.

“You talk big,” Undyne sneered, “but what do you think about the riots? About monster/human marriage rights?”

“I understand why the monsters are rioting, and it's not right that they're… that you're not allowed to marry humans,” you struggled with the awkwardness of the heavy topic, “I'm on your side. I speak up when people talk about it!”

“Would you marry a monster?” Undyne challenged you.

“W-what!?” you jumped in your seat as Papyrus spat his water out in shock. Tess sat watching the exchange with wide eyes. Sans was done his soup by now and was sitting, frozen, staring at Undyne.

The silence stretched out as you tried to formulate an answer that wouldn't make it seem like you were chasing after Sans to marry him or make you seem like a bigot.

Undyne laughed suddenly, “I'm just fucking with you. Sorry. You seem really cool, I just worry about my squad here in this shithole city.”

You started laughing in relief, “It is pretty bad here, I don't blame you. But... maybe we can uh, talk about something else now?”

You breathed a sigh of relief as Undyne started chatting good-naturedly with everyone. Alphys and Tess seemed to get along. You smiled at the two shyest people being lucky enough to be seated beside each other. You all paid up and stood to put your coats on.

Alphys spoke up then as you all walked to the front, “I-it seems a shame to head out now, maybe we can all hang out after?”

Papyrus jumped in at that, “I have video games and puzzles and snacks at home!!! You're all welcome to come back to our house and spend quality time with us!”

Sans nodded and turned to Alphys and Undyne, “We already have your bed set up to stay over, and a bunch of stuff to do. If you wanted to just crash that's cool too, I **guest**.”

He winked as you giggled at the pun.

“Sounds awesome, loser!” Undyne punched him in the shoulder, “Let's have a party!”

You were starting to realise this was just Undyne’s way, and that she acted like this around everyone. You felt a bit easier about your earlier conversations with her.

“I'm sorry, I have to be up early tomorrow,” Tess apologized, “It was really nice to meet you all though. We’ll have to do this again!”

You stood outside and you and the monsters said their goodbyes to Tess. As everyone turned to walk the other way back to the skeleton brothers house, you smiled. It had really been a good night. Barring some awkwardness, you were having fun. And you were excited to go back and hang out with the monsters at Sans’ place.

Walking down the block, you saw a familiar figure leaning against the brick wall ahead of you. He stepped out in front of your group, blocking your way. It was Jeff. And he was smiling maliciously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like they shouldn't have made plans in front of Jeff. What's he up to?


	17. Confrontation & Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why was Jeff waiting for you and Sans outside the restaurant and what does he want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
>  
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

Jeff was standing in front of your little group, looking very pleased with himself. He staggered a bit, and it was evident that he'd had a few drinks before he'd ambushed you.

“Hello human!” Papyrus called out, “Do we know you?”

You tried to subtly shake your head at Papyrus as a warning, but Jeff was ignoring the tall skeleton anyway.

 

“What do you want, Jeff?” you growled out.

Papyrus looked at you, shocked by the bluntness of your reaction, and then his brows drew together in concern.

Alphys and Undyne hung back, observing. Sans was unreadable.

“Wow, rude,” Jeff affected a shocked pose, “You might not want to talk to me like that, when you hear what I have to say.”

You heard Sans step forward behind you, and you felt a tingling on your skin that reminded you of the times he teleported you. You had the sudden memory of men being flung like rag dolls, and realised what might happen if Jeff pushed Sans to violence in a public place.

You couldn't risk it. If anything went down, it was the monsters who would suffer. There were witnesses everywhere, you were downtown on a Saturday night.

You threw your hand out to your side in front of Sans, forcing him to stop behind you.

“I'll handle this,” you muttered, “it's fine.”

 

Sans growled low, deep in his chest. You felt it in the air more than heard it, and it carried a chill of his odd magic.

Jeff cowered away, but seemed to remember something. “You can't touch me. How will that look? A gang of monsters and one unarmed human? Who will they believe?” he stood a bit straighter, still twitching nervously.

You groaned and rolled your eyes, “Just spit it out. Whatever it is you want. I assume you waited outside for us? Creepy, Jeff. Fucking creepy. Are you drunk?”

“I just wanted you to know I caught your little show last night,” Jeff's lip curled in disgust.

“W-what!?” you wondered what he was talking about.

The last time you'd seen Jeff he'd been watching Sans ask you out at your desk. He couldn't mean that, surely?

Jeff looked furious, and dug in his pocket. Whipping out a folded piece of paper, he waved it loosely in the air.

“Don't play dumb,” Jeff hissed, “I saw you together.”

 

You felt nauseous as a hot flush crept up from your chest to the top of your head. Meanwhile, your guts went icy cold.

Jeff was waving the scrap of paper around too much for you to see any details.  You knew without seeing that somehow he had pulled footage of the security office from last night.  Still, hoping for something else, you watched as Jeff threw the paper on the ground in front of you. It fluttered slowly to the sidewalk, landing face up.

Now that you could see, it was a blurry print out of you straddling Sans in the security office chair the night before.

You swallowed, feeling your mouth dry up. You'd never felt so violated and exposed before.

“Nice!” you heard Undyne’s voice from behind you. Looking back, she was giving you and Sans a thumbs up, “Good job guys, I had no idea!”

Sans was standing motionless, and overly casual. His face carried it's typical grin but his eyes were black sockets that seemed to go in forever. You couldn't read his exact mood, but he was definitely upset.

Alphys was blushing at the image, and Papyrus averted his eyes, one hand blocking his peripheral vision. Just then, a large crowd emerged from the nearby movie theatre. People walking by on the sidewalk craned their necks to see what was going on, while pretending they weren't.

You kneeled quickly and snatched up the picture, and folded it in half to hide the front.

“Disgusting,” Jeff spat on the ground in front of you as you stood back up. You flinched away.

 

Sans piped up then, “Jeez, pal, if you wanted to see my **bone** , all you had to do was ask.”

“Shut up, freak!” Jeff shrieked at Sans, taking a step forwards but then stalling out. He was clearly still intimidated by the skeleton.

 

Sans didn't move back, every line in his body taut.

You were locked in place, and it felt like a bad dream. You hated Jeff more at this moment than at any previous time, which was saying a lot. You were vibrating with rage.

“What the fuck, Jeff!? Why… Why do you have this?!” you practically shouted at him, “What is wrong with you!?”

“What's wrong with **me**?” Jeff was red in the face now, “I'm not the one letting some gross animal climb all over me! At work!”

Jeff pointed his finger at you, stabbing it in your direction with each syllable.

 

You were starting to draw some onlookers. In addition to being an unusually large group of monsters for your city, Jeff was also causing something of a scene.

“It’d be a shame if our boss saw this. Or if the whole office got an email with a bunch of the footage…” Jeff smirked at you.

“No,” you felt angry tears threatening the corners of your eyes, “You can't…”

“I can, and probably should,” Jeff hissed out, “I can't imagine Adling would like it if his precious pet was found fucking some gross monster in the office!”

 

“My brother’s not gross!” Papyrus yelled, right as Undyne screamed, “FUCK YOU!”

“I **could** send the pics,” Jeff took a wobbly step back and shrugged, “But I don't **have** to…”

“What'll it cost me?” you asked in a flat voice, “That's what this is about, right? If you just wanted to humiliate me you'd just have emailed everyone without telling me.”

“So cynical,” he rolled his eyes at you, “but at least you aren't stupid. Here's the deal. If you stop palling around with that freak, I might see it in my heart to hold off on emailing these images to everyone.”

“N-” you began to answer before Jeff cut you off.

“And if you agree to go out with me, I might not send them at all,” Jeff continued, slurring his words.

 

You couldn't even speak for a moment.

“Publicly blackmailing women into dating you is a new low, even for you, Jeff,” you were shaking with tension.

“What do I care if your monster friends hear,” Jeff shrugged, “It's not as if they can even testify to anything legally. They aren't people. And who’s going to listen to them anyway?”

The sound of grinding teeth came from behind you but you weren't sure if it was Undyne or Sans.

 

“Do you think you're some sort of supervillain?” you were furious, shaking and in disbelief, “You're ridiculous and gross! I'll never go out with you. I rejected you before, and I'm rejecting you now!”

“Then I'll send that video to everyone in the company!” Jeff answered in a rage.

“If you do that, you’re **really** not going to like what happens,” Sans spoke up finally, managing to sound calm despite everything. Sans leaned back, his weight on one heel, hands in his pockets.

 

“A-are you threatening me?” Jeff said in a loud theatrical voice, clearly trying to get attention from passers-by.

“I dunno about Sans, **but I am**!” screamed Undyne, as she launched herself at him.

Alphys barely caught the tail end of her jacket, and managed to stop Undyne’s attack. There was a sound of the jacket tearing as Undyne pulled.

“U-Undyne, no! You c-can’t!!!” Alphys was frantic, “You can’t!”

The fish woman raised her hand and blue magic started coiling in her palm, right as Alphys pulled Undyne’s  arm down and closed her small yellow fist over the larger blue one.

Jeff took a stumbly step backwards and landed on his ass. He grunted and scrambled to his feet as he took off at not quite a run, but definitely faster than a walk.

 

“Let go of me, Alphys,” Undyne kept her eyes trained on Jeff as the magic still swirled around their joined hands.

“You can’t hurt a human!” Alphys voice was trembling more than normal, “You’ll get in t-trouble! I can’t lose you!”

The magic sputtered out as Undyne hissed softly.  Jeff slipped around the corner, and was gone.

Papyrus looked torn, and was twisting his hands in dismay, glancing around at everyone anxiously.

“S-sorry, honey,” the small lizard woman fell into Undyne’s arms, teary.

“Ugh, it’s fine,” Undyne growled, “I just… I REALLY WANTED TO KICK HIS ASS!”

Alphys let out a muffled reply into the hug. Undyne hugged her tightly.

 

Meanwhile, the crowd had pretty much dispersed. You were only getting a few odd looks from people who were unused to monsters. Normal for this city.

You felt like everything was unreal, the artificial lights of the city seemed too bright, the sounds of the street overwhelming. What had just happened?

Papyrus spoke up then, “H-human, that man was very rude. I think we should avoid him from now on...”

You laughed weakly, “Good advice, Pap, I have been trying to avoid that guy since before I met him, if possible…”

You looked over and saw Sans staring off into the distance where Jeff had run off.

“Sans?” you called out.

He looked back at you, bright pupils flickering back into view.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” Sans looked genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine,” you answered, while knowing the answer was far from the truth. You were going to lose your job. You could tell that Sans realised your answer was a lie, but he let it go for the sake of politeness. Something in his expression looked terrifying somehow, even though you knew it wasn’t aimed at you.

Sans nodded, “Good.”

You had a feeling he wasn’t going to drop the topic so easily. You made a promise with yourself to be honest with him later.

Undyne leaned in and said, “That guy is a giant asshole.” Alphys fluttered back and forth behind her, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“He’s a constant irritation to me, yeah,” you replied, “and the hugest asshole I have ever met. This is possibly the worst thing he’s ever done though.”

 

“Are we still going to play games?” Papyrus sounded slightly stricken, and you felt a jolt of guilt at being the cause for all this drama. If you’d just stayed home, they’d have had a great night catching up with eachother.

“We sure are, Pap,” Sans said firmly, “right, guys?”

He looked around at the rest of you with a pleading look on his face, as if to ask you not to end the night on such a rough note. You felt even worse, remembering this was technically your first date. Kind of.

Undyne punched the air and said “I’m not letting that loser ruin anything! LET’S GO!”

Alphys didn’t speak, but nodded and grabbed Undyne’s elbow.

Sans’ eyes went to your face, “You don’t have to, I mean. It would be fun, and I- we’d.. like to have you there.”

For a second you considered turning him down. You weren’t going to be very good company tonight. You had to start preparing for a job hunt as soon as possible. You were already going through options in your head. But this was just one night. One night to not think about it.

And if you were going to lose your job for being with Sans, you may as well hang out with him tonight. After all, you had been looking forward to this. You wanted your "kind of date" to be a real date.

You realised you’d been standing there for a few seconds not responding.

“Yeah!” you rushed to answer, “Sorry, I just… yeah, kinda still keyed up from everything. I’d love to keep hanging out. If you all don’t mind a human crashing your party.”

Suddenly you were dangling from Papyrus’ boney arms as Undyne and Alphys insisted you should come along.

“I have video games!” Papyrus was overjoyed as he swayed back and forth, “We’re going to have so much fun! I promise!”

You heard Sans chuckling, and looked over to see him gazing at you fondly.

However, there was still something dark in his expression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if anyone didn't hate Jeff before, I assume you do now.
> 
> By the way, what Jeff did is directly based on something that happened to a friend of mine. Although she wasn't getting busy with someone at work, he tried to blackmail her in front of a bunch of friends into dating him. I'm not sure why he thought that would work? Some people are truly horrible!
> 
> I know everyone wanted to see Jeff get dunked on, so I'm sorry. ;) But if a monster would attack him in front of all those people, they'd be in a lot of legal trouble!


	18. Friends & Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You head back to the brothers' house to have a quiet night in and forget the events from earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
>   
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

The walk back to the skeletons’ place was awkward at first, but Alphys started telling Papyrus about a new anime she'd seen, and it lightened the mood considerably. Undyne and Sans remained fairly quiet, only interjecting when Alphys or Papyrus prompted them. You could tell they were both still upset by what happened, and you couldn't blame them. You were also horrifically aware of the printout you had hidden away in your pocket.

You thought of ways to get out of the situation Jeff had created, your mind scrabbling at the corners of a cage. You came up with nothing. Even if you could prove that Jeff was harassing you, it wouldn't help that you had done the actual thing he was accusing you of. Best case scenario, you’d both get fired.

You hated yourself for a moment. After all the fighting about that stupid party and not wanting to get caught with Sans, you'd done the very thing you'd tried to avoid. All those misunderstandings, all that pain. And now you were reaping the consequences anyway.

You realised someone was calling your name, and you looked up as you stopped walking. Sans stumbled to a stop almost in front of you and said, “Jeez, pal, you were really out to lunch there. You still up for coming in?”

He gestured to his right, and you realised you were at the skeletons’ home. Papyrus and the others were already up at the door, unlocking it.

“Sorry,” you laughed weakly, “I just have a lot on my mind, I guess.”

“I get that,” Sans nodded at you somberly, “Don't feel pressured to hang out or anything.”

“No, I really want to!” you insisted and turned towards the house, “I'll try not to be too much of a downer.”

Sans followed you up the walkway, hands in his pockets.

 

The warmth of the house enveloped you the moment you stepped inside. Not just the temperature, but the cheerful orangey lamps and the general happy energy of the house. Papyrus was taking everyone's coats and happily welcoming you in. You smiled to yourself, and realised coming here was a wonderful choice. Tonight would be good, you decided. Handing Papyrus your coat, you kneeled down to remove your footwear.

Sans came in behind you, shutting the door, and kicking off his dress shoes.

“Phew, it's nice to get those off,” he sighed in relief and started walking up the stairs to his room.

“SANS!” Papyrus paused on his way to put the coats in the front closet and shrieked, “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE THOSE THERE, YOU LAZYBONES!”

“You'll just have to think of another **lace** to **foot** them!” Sans laughed, and went into his room, shutting the door.

Undyne let out a shrill bark of laughter and threw herself onto the loveseat. You stifled a giggle, stood up and walked to the living room. Papyrus let out a little scream as he put the coats away. He stomped back to the front door and grabbed Sans’ shoes, muttering random things about puns and brothers. He threw them in the closet and announced, “I will get us some snacks!” in a shockingly cheerful voice compared to his recent comments.

You settled on the sofa by yourself as Alphys sat down to join her fiancée on the smaller loveseat. Papyrus was off in the kitchen clanging around, so you decided to try and make conversation.

“So what do you guys do?” you leaned over to the pair.

Alphys looked over at you with a goodnatured smile on her dinosaur-like face.

“W-well I work in a research lab. It's pretty b-boring really, but Undyne has a super cool job!” she brightened up at the mention of Undyne, “She runs a dojo and gym, and humans and monsters travel from all over to l-learn how to be tough and cool from her!”

Alphys was clearly uncomfortable being in the spotlight, and you made a note of it, hoping to keep her as at ease around you as possible.

“Aww sweety,” the blue fish woman patted Alphys, “your job is badass too!”

Undyne looked at you and noted, “Alphy is part of a research team trying to use Determination to cure human diseases! And in return, the human researchers are helping to cure monster diseases!”

“Wow,” you were impressed, “that is pretty great! You both sound like you have cool jobs.”

Alphys shook her head, “N-no, I'm sure your j-job is much cooler than mine.”

An awkward silence made it evident you all remembered the events from earlier, and that you would likely lose your job on Monday.

Undyne averted her one visible eye and started reading a video game case that had been sitting on the side table. Alphys was blushing, and tried to change the subject, “So h-h-how do you know Sans?”

You appreciated them attempting to distract you, at least.

Undyne looked over and raised a warning eyebrow at her, “She knows him from **work.** ”

The lizard woman started sweating and laughing nervously, “O-oh yeah, right. Uhhh, W-we should tell her how we know Sans!”

 

“You ladies talkin’ ‘bout me?” Sans sauntered into the living room.

“Hey, Sans!” Undyne waved at him, “We were just telling your friend here how we know you.”

Sans flopped on to the sofa beside you. He was wearing a familiar pair of cut off sweat pants and a tshirt with ‘FREE SHRUGS’ on it. It was the same outfit he'd loaned you to sleep in the night he had saved you. It felt like years ago, when it had only been months. You couldn't tell if he'd worn that exact outfit tonight on purpose or not, and his impish grin left you no clues.

“Well,” he drawled, “Alphys and I were coworkers. We used to work at the lab together. I met Undyne through my brother. And then, later, she was my boss when I was a sentry.”

“And you were the worst sentry I ever had,” Undyne shook her blue fist at the skeleton in mock threat.

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Sans laughed and winked at you, “I got a lot of napping done, though. Worth it.”

Undyne threw a pillow at Sans and everyone burst into laughter.

 

You smiled despite yourself, finally feeling really relaxed around this little group. Alphys and Undyne were a sweet pair, and Undyne's prickly personality was clearly hiding a kind interior.

Papyrus came staggering into the living room just then, laden with snacks and almost dropping them all.

“I BRING SUSTENANCE!” he shouted out.

You leapt to your feet to help him, and he let you take three bowls, while he held on to the remaining three, plus two plates. You both laid them all out on the coffee table. There was quite the spread. Popcorn, chocolates, marshmallows, pretzels, cookies, gummies, potato chips, and some pizza bagels that looked slightly charred. Basically the table looked like Halloween had exploded.

“Sweet!” Undyne plopped into the floor and started shovelling gummy worms into her fanged mouth. Sans actually reached for a chip and you watched him pop it in his mouth. You'd never seen him eat before. Shocked, you grabbed a chip and stared at it. It was bright red.

“Ketchup chips,” Sans was clearly very pleased with himself, “Best kind there is!”

Undyne jammed a game into the gaming system and chucked a controller at the rest of you. You fumbled and caught one.

“Let's do this!” She yelled and hit the power button.

The loading screen popped up and showed some sort of anime themed fighting game. A brightly coloured title splashed across the cartoony opening; “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Turbo Battle Showdown Arena II”.

“Oooohhhhh, I've wanted to play this forever!” Alphys squealed.

“I found a copy on the internet!” Papyrus said proudly, pressing a button to advance the menu, “It's amazing how humans made a version of the Undernet. You can buy many things on it!”

The game let out a cute anime voice, and loaded the character selection screen.

“I'm gonna kick your asses!” Undyne punched the air.

Sans just sat on the sofa grinning, watching everyone else play and snack. Every time Sans moved on the sofa beside you, you tensed slightly. At one point his boney leg pressed into yours and you simply remained motionless, enjoying the sensation. You stole a glance at him but he remained cheerfully staring at the television.

 

A couple of hours later, and Undyne and Papyrus were playing against each other while you cheered them on. Undyne had just used the disabling kiss attack and Papyrus was frantically button mashing in hypnosis mode. It seemed Undyne’s victory was sure. You glanced over and realised the Sans and Alphys were both gone. Popping a marshmallow in your mouth you stood to look for them, right as Papyrus let out a triumphant cry.

“Human, look! I've pulled my character from the brink of doom!” as Papyrus’ adorable anime character pummelled Undyne's HP into nothing.

“Gahhhhhhhh!” Undyne threw her controller into the loveseat beside her right as Sans and Alphys wandered in from the kitchen.

You let out a yawn, and Undyne echoed you with a yawn of her own.

“The great Papyrus is feeling like maybe a short nap is in order,” the tall skeleton looked sleepy and wobbly.

“Yeah,” Alphys yawned too, “I'm still pretty worn out from the trip.”

“I will prepare the sleeping arrangements!” Papyrus stood up and started pulling the sofa out into a bed. Undyne assisted by pulling the pillows out.

 

You watched as they got ready and Alphys headed off to the bathroom announcing she was going to change into some pyjamas.

Sans stood near you, watching them.

“I guess that's my cue to leave,” you said softly, “I'm pretty sleepy too.”

“You want a walk home?” Sans asked, “It's pretty late.”

You were slightly taken aback at the offer, since usually he asked to teleport you. He'd never really asked to walk you anywhere.

“That would be nice, thanks,” you replied, smiling.

 

You said your goodbyes once Alphys had returned from the bathroom.

“It was n-nice meeting you,” Alphys stammered, “I hope e-everything works out. And even if it doesn't maybe we could find you a job at m-my lab, or Undyne's dojo, o-or Toriel and Frisk’s Monster Embassy….” She trailed off awkwardly.

“Thanks, Alphys, it was really great to meet you too,” you cut her off to save her the embarrassment, “I appreciate the thought.”

“You're alright!” you received a hearty clap on the back from Undyne, “I'm glad these skeleton dorks have you around. Take care of them when I'm not here okay?”

“Will do,” you grinned even as the place where she'd smacked you started to ache a bit.

Papyrus launched himself at you next, grabbing both shoulders and gazing right into your eyes intensely, “Come over like this more often! I had such a great time!!! And thank you for bringing your human friend, I’m so happy you're comfortable enough with us to show other people you're our friend!” He shot an unreadable look over your shoulder at Sans. You had no time to analyze it before he'd pulled you into one of his patented Papyrus hugs.

You felt warm and loved. This ragtag little group of monsters had opened up and welcomed you in. You'd once again had one of the worst nights of your life turn into one of the best. It was all thanks to Sans and his friends and family.

You felt incredibly grateful as you pulled your coat on. Sans held the door open and you both slipped out in the dark night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO MUCH FLUFF. This was a fun and relaxing chapter to write, that's for sure. I hope everyone enjoyed it.  
> I really wanted Reader to be able to cheer up after that rough event. :/
> 
> And I really wish that “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Turbo Battle Showdown Arena II” was a real game.


	19. Hands & Holding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark snowy walk home with the skeleton of your dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day, sinners!
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

The snow on the ground had melted and refrozen into a jagged crunchy wilderness of ice. You could hear it shattering under your feet when you strayed from the immediate pathway on the sidewalk.

“Thanks for coming,” Sans spoke up, his voice carrying oddly in the dark deserted street. The blue of his hooded sweatshirt looked almost black when you weren't near the streetlights.

You laughed quietly, “It was fun. I'm glad I came. Thanks for inviting me.”

“ **Snow** problem, pal,” Sans quipped, “I kept meaning to, but stuff kept coming up.”

There was an awkward moment as you both clearly remembered the twisting path that had brought you both to this moment.

“So, where did you and Alphys go earlier?” you blurted out, breaking the silence.

“Hm?” Sans glanced over at you, his small bright pupils lighting the sides of his eye sockets closest to you.

“I dunno, just…” you stammered, realizing it was none of your business, “you both disappeared for a bit.”

Sans chuckled under his breath, “Why, you jealous? She's gonna be a married woman, you got nothing to worry ‘bout.”

You flushed, face hot against the chilly air. You felt ashamed for asking, and somewhat pleased he was implying he liked only you.

It was snowing again, but gently. There was a thin layer forming over the older snow, soft and like a coat of velvet. You shivered and shoved your hands in your pockets, jumping when your hand crumpled into the folded picture that was still in there. The picture. Your job. You remembered everything all over  again.

You felt a clenching in your gut as Sans’ bright pupils darted to the source of the crinkling sound.

“That’s what your life would be, y’know,” Sans put his hands in his pockets and stared off into the distance as he walked, “if we… if we were together.”

You looked over at him, shocked at his candour.

“What do you mean?” you asked, “W-what would my life be?”

“Just that... there are a lot of Jeffs in the world. You’d be dealing with a lot of prejudice,” Sans shrugged, and pulled a hand out of his pocket to gesture, “I don’t blame you. I know I was angry before, but I do understand. I wouldn’t hate you if… if you decide it’s too hard.” He dropped his hand to his side.

You didn't even think about what you did next, and if you had, you may have lost your nerve. You slipped your hand into his and curled your fingers to hold his tightly. The bones of his hand were warm and hard, with that faint thrumming sensation you remembered.

Sans looked over at you, shocked, then stared down at your joined hands.

“Life is hard,” you said quietly.

“I guess that's true,” Sans replied, still looking uncomfortable.

You felt Sans squeeze your hand back gently, and you walked together in silence.

 

Arriving at your apartment building, you and Sans awkwardly disengaged your hands from eachother. You stood there in front of the door, the fluorescent light from your apartment lobby shining out. You weren't quite sure what to do or say. It had been a “kind of date”, and if it had been a real date you'd have maybe said goodbye with a kiss. You and Sans had kissed already, and it wouldn't be weird. He was looking at you oddly now, and you realised you'd been standing there essentially motionless for a few seconds longer than was normal.

Mind made up, you leaned in and kissed him, a small peck on the side of his smile. You felt Sans’ place his hands on your waist.

You stood back and smiled, “I'd love to do this again sometime. Maybe... just us, though?”

You blushed again at your suggestion of a real date. Sans was turning blue at the cheeks, and his hard fingers tightened at your sides.

“I'd like that,” Sans choked out, “a ton.”

His mouth opened again but you beat him to it, “A skele- **ton** ?”

Chuckling, he hugged you. 

“Yeah,” you felt him breathe into your shoulder, “Pretty much.”

You tensed in joy, as you thought about how perfect this was. The feel of his body against you, the dry comforting smell of him, the snow falling softly around you.

He stepped back and you grinned, exhilarated, as you dug into your purse for your keys. 

“Thanks, Sans,” you said, “I really did have a great time. Night.”

“Later,” he waved as you opened your door. You shot a look back as you hit the elevator button but he was already gone. 

 

You leaned your body up against the elevator wall as it went to your floor. 

Heart racing, you closed your eyes, reliving the walk home. As perfect as it was, you kicked yourself a little for not inviting him back up to your place. The unfinished business of the security office had left you with no doubts as to where you wanted this relationship to go. 

Remembering the security office picture, you pulled it out of your pocket and looked at it as you unlocked your door. You weren't ashamed. Jeff was an asshole but he wouldn't ruin this for you. You would find a new job, and Tess would still be your friend. And maybe you'd have a skeleton boyfriend as well. Life goes on, you thought to yourself. 

You did a little dance as you yanked open the sticking closet door and jammed your coat in. You just couldn't feel too upset after such a romantic walk home. 

You pulled off your clothes and danced through to the bedroom. You noticed the shirt he gave you laying on the bed. You smiled to yourself and picked it up. The shirt was practically now your boyfriend's shirt, and you didn't have to worry about being creepy, and you also probably could grab others if this one lost the smell of him. You clutched it to your face with both hands and inhaled.

You decided to sleep in it, and soon enough you were in the shirt, panties and nothing else. You glanced at the clock, it was 1:30am, but you were still a bit keyed up. You were full of snacks and first date excitement so you grabbed a glass of water and sat down on your sofa. Picking up your phone, you started tapping out a text to Sans, thanking him for tonight.

You had only typed one word when you heard a male voice from behind you, “Hey.”

 

Startled, you leapt to your feet, dropping your phone on the sofa.

Sans stood in your living room, looking vaguely ashamed but determined. 

“Sans!? What are you-?” you yelped out, realizing you were in only your panties and his shirt.

Suddenly he was standing right in front of you, teleported in the blink of an eye. You could only stand there in shock.

“I just… have something I wanted to do,” he leaned in, wrapped a boney limb around your waist and kissed you.

You melted against him, as he groaned your name into your mouth. You kissed back, delighted and not sure if you were dreaming. You'd fantasized about him doing exactly this, and you never thought he'd actually do it. 

This was no chaste goodbye kiss. Sans slipped his phantom tongue into your mouth and you moaned against it.

You felt his hands skitter up your back, and clutch at the base of your skull. Gently licking at your lower lip, he moved back to look at your face. 

You caught your breath as he pulled away. He looked a bit nervous, and his cheeks glowed a vibrant blue.

 

“Sorry, just… wanted to say goodnight properly…” he licked gently at his teeth. You noted he had what seemed like dull little fangs in his mouth and imagined what they'd feel like running across your skin.

“You scared me,” you replied shakily.

“Sorry, yeah, shit,” Sans was tripping over his words as his eyes widened, “I'll go. I just. Yeah.”

“You don't have to go,” your heart was thumping out of your chest as you made the offer.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Sans let out a breath he’d been holding, “I was hoping you'd ask me to stay.”

“I was regretting not asking you to stay,” you whispered.

 

You leaned back in to continue the kiss and he clutched on to you like a lifeline. You felt his teeth nipping at your lips and you made a small squeak. He chuckled low against your mouth and mumbled, “You like that?”

You pulled at the collar of his hoodie, sliding it down his arms to his elbows, unable to respond except by licking at his mouth and whimpering.

“Hmm, seems like,” he responded by slipping his boney fingers up your shirt.

His hands were still cold from outside, and they were like little icicles running up your sides. Letting out a shriek, you wiggled away by instinct before relaxing.

“Sorry, my hands must be cold,” Sans apologized, “It's a bit…”

He gently tweaked your nipple and you gasped and clutched at him.

“...  **nippy** outside,” he finished.

Laughing, you shook your head fondly. “You even have to pun when we're about to have sex?”

“Are we?” Sans affected an innocent tone, but looked devious. His hands were still up your shirt, one poised on your breast.

You answered by leaning in and licking up the side of his neck vertebra. 

“N-ngah!” Sans’ hand tightened on your breast as his whole body tensed in reaction.

“Take me to bed,” you whispered into his neck.

“Any time, babe,” Sans wrapped his arms around you, “Hold on.”

With a thrill, you felt him pull you into the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MAN. I'm so sorry to end it there. But it was going to get too long for a single update.   
> I promise a whole chapter of smut coming up next week! <3
> 
> Happy Valentines Day, I hope you enjoyed the fluff and makeouts!


	20. Naughty & Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up when Sans shows up at your house after walking you home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

When you dropped out of the void’s endless blackness, you found yourself and Sans landing on the edge of your own bed. Sans was sitting beneath you, and you fell into his lap with a short gasp.

“I thought you couldn’t teleport anywhere you hadn’t been…” you teased him.

“For your information,” he squeezed your waist, “you can see the corner of your bed from the living room.”

“I guess so,” you giggled, “so you haven't been scoping out the place after all.”

“Never,” he smirked at you.

Your arms still draped around him, you leaned in and nuzzled your nose against the small hole that took the place of his nose. There was a little outcropping of bone at the top and you pushed the tip of your nose against it as his hands tightened around you.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” Sans said as he leaned forward and bit where your shoulder met your neck.

Groaning, you pulled at his hoodie that was still hooked around his elbows, and started tugging. Laughing, he pulled his hands back to help you.

“Jeez, babe, you really want to **strip me to the bone,** ” he winked at you as you worked the sweater off him. Laughing, you dropped the hoodie off the side of the bed, and he sat there looking at you suggestively in his tshirt.

“Your turn,” he said in a low voice.

 

You let out a strangled noise. His voice had set a fire inside you, his hands on you, his smell, the tingle of magic. You felt you were going to burn up. You knew your panties were drenched and you didn’t care. You knew from recent reports that monsters didn’t have any human-communicable diseases and also couldn’t interbreed with humans. A few of the more tawdry papers had written some pretty suggestive articles about the topic, and the rightwing movement had some revolting things to say on the matter. Apparently since monsters were made of magic and weren’t purely biological beings, there was no risk of disease. You wouldn’t even need a condom, and at the thought, you felt a rush at how this was finally happening.

“As cute as you look in that shirt of mine…” he paused and looked up at you, one eyebrow raised, “I think I’ll be taking it off you.”

Sans slid his fingers up the bottom of your shirt and pulled it inside out over your head. You put your arms up to help, and immediately dropped your hands to cover your breasts, suddenly nervous, as he threw the shirt across the room.

You’d been in just the shirt, with no bra, and you were feeling very exposed.

Still, you figured you were being a bit silly, and you took your hands away and rested them on his chest.

“Shit, kid,” he rumbled. His eyes were lidded, and his smile was slightly crooked. He gazed at you, enraptured.

He reached up and took one of your breasts in his hand, gently cupping it. Overcome with sudden shyness, you asked, “Are they… okay?”

Sans glanced up at you and said, “Okay? Babe, they're the **breast** ,” and leaned in to run his teeth along your taut nipple. You couldn't help the laugh that came out, nor could you help when it transformed into a moan as he rolled your erect nub in his mouth.

 

You pulled at his shoulders to draw him closer and you saw a flash of blue and felt a magical tongue rubbing against your nipple. Gasping in pleasure, you squirmed on his lap. You felt his other hand slide down your side and grasp at the side of your panties. He had his hand cupped around your bare ass and dug his hard boney fingers in just a little, and your hips bucked into him.

“Hmmmmm,” he pulled his mouth off your breast, “Havin’ fun?” He had his tongue pinched in his teeth, small fangs poking out.

“Yesss,” you were almost delirious, you’d been waiting so long for this. Nothing else mattered, and the horrible events of the day were forgotten in this moment. All you could feel was his hands and mouth on you, and the growing tension between your legs.

“This seems… one sided… though,” you choked out, “Let me…”

 

You grabbed at his shirt and pulled, as he yanked his hand back to help. Pulling the shirt over his head, you were suddenly straddling a half naked skeleton. More of him than you’d ever seen.

You paused, staring at the vast expanse of bones before you. Your hands hovered in midair, not quite sure where to grasp or how to touch.

You must have been staring for a bit too long, because Sans looked at you oddly.

“This must be weird for you,” Sans said softly, “I know I'm not much to look at. Skeletons are… difficult for humans.”

He looked slightly embarrassed, as you rushed to comfort him.

“N-no it's nothing like that!” you assured him, fingers reaching out, “I just… I don't know how you like to be touched.”

“Touch me anywhere,” he growled, “Just touch me. Please.”

You placed your hand on his shoulder bone and closed your fingers around it.

He hissed and tilted his head back, his hands clutching at the bedspread.

“Is this oka-” you began to ask.

“PLEASE. Stars, please, more,” Sans was lost in sensation, his eyes unfocused, the pupils large and bright in his half shut sockets.

 

His reaction left you breathless as you left one hand on his shoulder and slid your other hand down his ribcage slowly. His small gasps and moans made your pussy clench and you felt more wetness pool there. You felt his hips grind up against you, and the hardness there let you know he was into this just as much as you were.

“Hey kid, you’re killin’ me here,” Sans croaked out, sweat beading his brow as he leaned back on one arm.

“Am I?” you breathed out and ran a hand around the underside of his ribs.

“Aggghhh!” Sans’ arm that was supporting him went out and he dropped backwards on to the bed.

“Let’s get you on the pillows at least,” you grinned at his reaction as you slid your hands inside his ribcage slightly.

“Sh-shit, yeah, okay…” Sans was clearly overwhelmed.

You climbed off him as he pivoted and moved his legs on to the bed. You slid one leg back over his legs, and straddled him again, slightly lower. Sans was sweaty and flushed a glowing blue. In the dim light of the bedroom you could see his tongue glowing through his teeth, and a faint glow from the crotch of his sweatpants.

You eyed the lump curiously, _“Was it like his tongue?”_ Shaking your head, you resolved to drive him even more crazy before you found out.

You leaned forward and licked a stripe up the center of his ribcage as he keened and arched his back. You took the opportunity of his back arching to reach down to grasp at his spine and stroke.

“F-fuck!” he groaned out desperately, “For someone who said she d-didn’t know where to touch…”

Sans was wrecked completely, you’d never seen him so undone, and you loved it. The monster you’d lusted after for months was now on your bed writhing beneath you as your hand was shoved into his ribcage. You ran your hands across the inner surface of his bones, as he made the most delicious little noises. His hands had come up to your shoulders to grasp gently as you licked at his ribs.

You felt a damp spot on your belly and realised he was almost as wet as you. Taking pity, you sat back up beside him and untied the drawstring of his pants. Sans seemed to be breathing deeply as his ribcage moved up and down and he let out little wheezes. You pondered at the idea of a skeleton breathing but moved your hands to his waistband and pulled.

Sans groaned and looked down at you, “Jumpin’ my **bone** , huh?”

You laughed and replied, “Maybe I am.”

 

Sliding the pants down his pelvis, you were not too shocked to see a large blue penis pop out as the fabric slid away. It seemed to be the same substance as his tongue, an opaque blue glowing magic. It looked like a human penis, intact and huge. It faded to a completely transparent gradient where it met with the bones of his pelvis, lending it an ethereal floating quality. But it was definitely solidly attached, judging from the way it had bounced as you pulled his pants off. Swallowing, your mouth suddenly dry, you stared at it.

“Like what you see?” you looked up to see Sans gazing down at you with a sideways smile and lustful eyes.

You reached out and grasped his cock, and his eyes widened in shock before he slammed them shut and moaned softly. He felt smooth and hard, but with a little bit of give. Just like a human penis but smoother and almost jelly like. You rolled his cock in your hand and some clear fluid beaded at the tip and dribbled down the side. Scooping it up on your thumb, you rubbed it into the slit at the top. Sans shoved his hips up into your hand at that and hissed out, “Holy shit…”

 

You smiled to yourself, loving how the skeleton was losing all coherence as you wrapped your hands around him. You were too tense, and you felt your clit throbbing. You couldn’t wait any more. You climbed on top of the skeleton and slid your panties to the side, easing yourself down slowly on to the brightly coloured cock. You were so wet you enveloped him easily and the sensation of him filling you was delicious and relieving.

Sans reached out to clutch at you, as he let out a choke. He clearly hadn’t been expecting you to climb on top right then. You looked down at the monster man, and he was staring up at you, a shocked look on his face.

“Fuck, kitten, you feel incredible,” he breathed out and thrust up into your heat, “Been wanting to do this for ages.”

His low wrecked voice ignited a spark inside you and you ground down into him desperately. You both spiraled out of control, as he grabbed your hips and worked himself up into you.

“C-can’t hold on any longer, babe, I’m sorry,” Sans growled softly, and ran the fingers of one hand across your clit.

He rubbed it gently as you bounced on top of him, overwhelmed by the feeling. He suddenly ground out a choked “F-fuuuck…” and you felt his hips stutter as his cock throbbed inside you.

You perched on top of him, slightly disappointed that it was over so soon. Suddenly, Sans’ eyes flicked open, and one eye flared into blue. You felt a tingling spread over you and a slight tint of blue overtake your vision. With no warning you were lifted off his cock and floated in the air. Your limbs tensed as you tried to maintain your balance out of instinct, but you couldn’t move them.

“Your turn,” Sans said in a deep rumble, sitting up as his magic flipped you over and tossed you onto the bed.

You flopped onto your back and the blue tingling faded as you found you could move again.

 

“What was that!?” you stammered out, but Sans was suddenly between your legs, pulling your knees apart with his boney fingers.

“Just one of my many skills,” Sans chuckled, and then slid his tongue up against your throbbing clit.

Shrieking, you twitched your hips up into his mouth and grabbed at the headboard.

Sans hummed against your sensitive parts, and you felt his fingers slip inside you and gently press at the walls. You felt the knuckles on his skeletal hands rubbing against you and murmured, “Oh god, Sans…”

You were moaning and squirming underneath his talented tongue when suddenly you felt the tingling of his tongue intensify. His magic normally had a slight buzz to it, like a feeling of static, but it had just increased by a lot. The effect was rather like that of a vibrator, and combined with the sustained pressure and flicking motion on your clit, you felt yourself dropping off the edge of ecstasy.

“Sansssss…. I’m...ahhhhhh, I’m gonna,” you tried to warn him.

“Come for me, kitten,” Sans somehow spoke without stopping his ministrations and suddenly you were clenching around his fingers and throbbing against his magical appendage as you thrust upwards. The orgasm washed over you, a whole body sensation and you tensed again and again as the monster rubbed your sensitive bundle of nerves.

You felt your muscles all relax at once, and you groaned as Sans gently licked you and pulled his fingers out of your wetness.

“That was…. indescribable,” you could barely gasp the words and you couldn’t feel your legs.

“Heh, thought you’d appreciate that,” he chuckled darkly and sat up.

“Thank you,” you felt incredibly relaxed, “That was… great.”

“Not over yet, cutie,” Sans sat back on his knees and gazed down at you.

You noticed with shock that his cock was hard and jutting out again. Or maybe it never went down, you realised.

Sans grabbed your knees and held them apart as he slipped forward into your waiting heat. You were still feeling soaked and throbby, exhausted from your climax, and feeling him force you open was almost too intense.

You let out a yelp as Sans breathed your name out. Adjusting his position, he laid himself down over you, one hand on each side of your head. The slow push and pull of his hips was agonizing and delicious as he eased you back into arousal.

You looked up into his face and he had his mouth hanging open, fangs exposed. His eyes were shut, and the glow of his blush lit the pillows beside you. He looked absolutely overcome with pleasure. His eyes flicked open, and he caught you staring up at him.

“Wanted you so bad,” he grunted, “Can’t believe I get to fuck such a cute. Human. Girl.” He punctuated each word with a deeper thrust into you.

You scrabbled at his back, looping your fingers into his ribcage and grabbing at his spine. “Feels so good,” he sighed, as he pressed down into you, resting on one arm and using his other arm to grab a handful of your hair.

Sans tugged your hair sharply as he let out an animalistic growl and made the most amazing little grinding motion into your hips. You felt his cock pressed right up against you and that’s when you gasped. Because that little vibrating tongue trick was apparently also possible with his cock.

As the vibrations built in intensity, Sans yanked on your hair more and bit down on your shoulder. You were getting louder now, in fact, you couldn’t remember ever being so vocal. You thrashed and thrust up against him, grabbing at every bone on his body, slipping your fingers into his hips and pulling them against you. You were making random noises and moans, and Sans was growling, a deep rumble like a coming storm. You could feel the vibration of the growl through the bones of his chest as well as the magical vibration against your pussy.

Suddenly Sans jerked against you, and bit down hard. You felt his teeth dig into you, pinching. The buzzing of his cock grew too intense to bear as you felt it throbbing hard and pulsing against your walls. This sent you over the edge, and then you were spiraling into the most intense orgasm of your life. You felt like it went on forever, as he emptied himself inside you, holding your hair and groaning. His voice was deep and throaty as he moaned your name into your neck.

Finally, you both went limp and his hand loosened from your hair.

Sans lifted his head looking sweaty and exhausted. You felt his cock disappear from inside you, simply de-materializing, leaving you pressed against his very damp pelvis. It was an odd sensation. His eyes were back to just white sparks, looking very sleepy.

“Hey babe,” he mumbled.

“Hey,” you panted.

You both laid there feeling limp for a while, before he rolled off you.  
“Jeez, kid,” he murmured, “That was a hell of a ride.”

“God, yeah,” You mumbled happily.

“I’m gonna go clean up,” you told him as you rolled off the bed lazily and went to the washroom.

You cleaned up a bit and noticed his cum hadn’t disappeared with the magical appendages. It was like human semen but had a pale blue tint. You wiped up and glanced at yourself in the mirror. The only description of you would be “well fucked”, and you chuckled a bit. You chucked a shirt back on to sleep in and headed back.

You wandered back into the bedroom and slid on to the bed beside the skeleton. While you were in the bathroom, he had rolled himself up inside the covers.

“Glad I finally got to take you to the bone zone,” Sans sounded half asleep.

Giggling, you curled up next to him and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HOPE ALL YOU FILTHY SINNERS ENJOYED THAT. Because I sure did.  
> YOU GOT TO FUCK THE SKELE!


	21. Intimacy & Interest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after, you wake up to a naked skeleton in your bed. How can you resist?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

You woke slowly, your body warm and lazy. Some light was filtering in through the curtains and hitting your closed eyes. You could tell you had slept in a bit. You dozed in that blissful state for a while longer, only aware of warmth and safety, unaware of circumstances. Slowly, reality started filtering in as you remembered the dinner from last night… the bed shifted then, and your eyes popped open. 

Looking to your side, you could see a skeleton sprawled over the other side of your bed. Oh. Right.

Sans had walked you home and then transported himself into your living room. Then you’d… You flushed with the memories that came flooding back.

Sans wanted you. He had wanted you so badly he had showed up and kissed you. After everything, after the fact he thought you were a bigot, even after Jeff showed up to blackmail you. You almost couldn't believe it was real. But the slight ache where he'd bitten your shoulder proved it was. Even as bad as everything else was, at least you had this. You felt a burning need to prove yourself to him, to show he was wrong about humans. There was still so much unsaid, and you almost regretted rushing into everything last night. Almost. But you’d have done it the same way all over again given the chance, you realised. There would be time for that later. You weren't going to let go. You were full of hope for the future.

You smiled as you watched his sleeping form. His mouth was hanging open slightly, and you could see his fangs poking out. He had kicked off the blankets and was spread-eagled on the bed, one leg dangling off the side. You felt embarrassed as you suddenly realised he was naked.

Still, you'd never gotten such a good chance to look at him before. You leaned towards his sleeping body and looked him over. He looked outwardly like a human skeleton with some minor differences. You were pretty sure humans had more ribs, and however he was held together was a mystery. Magic, you assumed.

When monsters had emerged, the term “magic” had moved from fantasy into reality. Where humans were organic, monsters were magic. A lot of people didn't like the fact that magic was now real, and the scientific community was still fighting over terminology. Most of the bodily mechanics of monsters was still being researched. It didn't help that there were simply so many subspecies of monster, some rarer than others. Of them all, skeletons were the rarest. You'd never even seen one before you met Sans.

You lay propped up on your side and stared at the sleeping skeleton, fascinated. Your hand darted out to touch his bones. As you ran your fingers across his ribs, he moved and groaned. Startled, you drew your hand back. When his breathing evened out, you reached out again to touch his sternum gently. Sans let out another little whimper in his sleep. You craned your neck and noticed his pelvis was faintly glowing.

Curious, and feeling a little guilty, you slid down and stared at his hips. It was so strange that his penis could simply appear and disappear. There was nothing but bone there right now, with the faintest glow where the bones met in the front. Swallowing, you reached out and then hesitated.

“Mmmm,” you heard Sans mumble in a sleep roughened voice. It seemed he was still sleeping. You delicately stroked the front of his pelvis just once, watching the glow spread. Sans squirmed his hips and the blue light intensified. Hypnotized, you watched as a tendril of blue light started climbing up your finger, wrapping it in a caress. It had no real form, just a faint tingle on your hand. Suddenly the magic solidified, and the little spiral of magic tightened on your digit.

Gasping, you attempted to pull your arm back, but the magic was holding fast. It pulled at you, using your finger to rub against Sans pelvis. 

Sans let out a throaty moan and his hips bucked up. You tugged at your hand frantically, terrified he would wake up and find you tangled in his magic. Another tendril emerged and wrapped around the other side of your finger, both strands thickening and pulsing. The glow was brighter now, and Sans was panting. You were incredibly turned on, but you were feeling out of your element. His tentacle things were working your finger against his bones and rubbing against your fingers in a fluid motion. They grew thicker and thicker, enveloping your finger. Without warning, they joined together into his penis and your finger popped free of the end.

Breathing heavily, you snatched your hand back and glanced up at Sans’ face.

He was staring down at you, with a sleepy smirk on his face. 

“Can't keep your hands off me, huh, princess?” he mumbled happily.

“I wasn't… I mean I was, but… I mean, shit, I'm sorry…” you felt guilty for examining him in his sleep.

Sans just chuckled and replied, “Do anything you want, baby, seems like it likes you.”

“Y-yeah?” you were breathless and you really wanted to, “Are you sure?”

Sans just quirked an eyebrow at you and made a little thrusting motion, his cock bobbing in your line of sight.

“I was awake, you know,” Sans winked at you.

You let out a breath, half-laughing and reached for his glowing cock.

“You brat,” you took his dick in your hand and gently squeezed it.

“You… love it,” he gasped out, as you worked him in your hand. You smiled impishly and leaned down to take him into your mouth.

You saw his eyes widen and pupils shrink as you lowered your head and closed your lips around him.

Groaning, Sans slid his hands down into your hair.

“Fuck,” he breathed out, sounding shocked.

 

You felt the smooth surface of his cock rub across your tongue. He tasted like that weird snowy smell you remembered. Faint and magical, more of a feeling in your mind of a lost memory than a taste. Magical appendages are strange, you thought to yourself. You felt his cock pulse at your gentle sucking, and his fingers tightened against your scalp.

You felt liquid seep out on to your tongue, and a mild sweet flavour filled your mouth. It was a delicate taste, and though odd, was not unpleasant. You ran your tongue around the tip, and dipped your head to take him deeper.

“I'm gonna…” Sans voice was strained as he tried to warn you, “Can't hold on…”

He nudged your head as if to push you off, but you grabbed his hip bones and sucked harder, forcing his cock deeper into your throat and swallowing.

Sans shouted your name as his cock started pulsing and sending jets of cum into your mouth. His boney hands were petting and stroking the top of your head in an awkward rhythm. You kept the suction going until his penis simply… dematerialized. There was no other way to describe the feeling of his cock suddenly disappearing. The sensation was like when you eat cotton candy and it dissolves, but with no flavour. Just the faint tingle of magic on your tongue.

 

“Fuck, kid,” Sans was breathless, “That's some talent you got. I don't usually pop off that fast, but you sure don't  **suck** at that.”

You made a joking grumpy face at the naked skeleton, “High praise.”

“The highest,” Sans closed his eyes and smiled. 

Appeased, you laid a kiss on the front of his pelvis where his penis had formed, and he made a happy sigh.

Patting your shoulder, he said, “Hey, come on up here.”

You squirmed up to join him on the pillows and he tugged the sheet and blanket over you both.

You cuddled up against his boney body and relaxed as he rolled to face you.

“Sans-” you began right as he also started speaking.

“Shit, you first,” he laughed.

“I just… I really like you. And I hope you don't regret this or like… want me to go away. Because I… really like you,” you stammered slightly at the awkward statement.

Sans chuckled and replied, “Well, I guess that makes what I was going to say redundant.”

You blinked at him, waiting. Sans seemed reluctant to continue.

“I was just going to say ‘I hope we can keep doing this, but I understand if you don't want to’,” he looked slightly ashamed as he said it.

“Oh jeez, Sans,” you pulled him closer in a hug, “I want to. I totally totally want to.”

“You mean like right now?” his eye flashed blue as he leaned into kiss you.

 

The vibrating of a phone made you both jump and pull away. 

“I think that's you….” you glanced at your phone on the other side of the bed to make sure.

“Aww, fuck,” Sans half rolled out of the bed. He scrabbled around on the floor through his clothes that had been unceremoniously tossed there. Grabbing his phone, he hoisted himself back onto the bed and rolled onto his back with one arm behind his head.

Sans sighed, “Shit, Papyrus is pissed. Twenty-three messages!!!! We were supposed to go for brunch today with Undyne and Alphys… I should probably get back…”

“I'm so sorry!” you apologized, “I should have asked if you needed an alarm or something!”

“Nah, it's fine,” the skeleton shrugged, “He just wanted to go earlier since he had work this afternoon. You wanna come along?”

You remembered you'd wanted to spend today job hunting online, and answered, “I'm sorry, I have some stuff to take care of. Tomorrow?” 

“Fair enough,” Sans smiled, “I'll hold you to that.”

 

You both got up and you helped Sans gather his clothes together. You felt oddly weird about not wearing much in front of him, so you threw on some shorts as he got ready.

“Call me,” Sans pulled you into a hug and you squeezed back.

He stepped back, and slid his hands in his pockets. A flash of blue in his eye, and his tongue slid out from between his teeth. 

“Bye, kitten.” 

And then he was gone.

You made a strangled noise and wished he'd been able to stay. You remembered his amazing tongue from last night and you had no doubt he was just reminding you of what it could do.

With a rueful sigh, you went to have a shower.

 

The rest of the day was filled with resume updating, and searching the various job sites for positions you could handle. It was tedious and boring. You took a break midday to message Tessa and tell her about what happened with Jeff after she left last night.

She immediately phoned you and asked for all the details. 

“You're just giving up then?” she shrieked.

“Not giving up, just… think of it as looking for work away from Jeff?” you rationalized.

“It's not fair,” Tess sounded upset, “he should lose his job, not you and Sans.”

“In a perfect world,” you sighed.

“So what happened after that? Did everyone go home?” she pressed.

You told her all about the video games and snacks at the skeleton brothers house. And ended with the fact that Sans had showed up at your house and you'd gotten intimate.

Tess was overjoyed. After tolerating some friendly teasing, you said goodbye and that you'd see her on Monday.

 

You made yourself some dinner and went back to your job search for another hour. Finally, exhausted, around 7pm you turned on the television to see if anything was on.

Flicking through the channels, you stopped when you saw a reporter standing outside a shopping area near your house. It was a little plaza with a few stores, ones you sometimes stopped in at on the way home from work. There were emergency vehicles visible and police tape behind her. The banner at the bottom read, “2 injured in attack on local store”. You hit the unmute button to hear what she was saying.

“-in escalating violence triggered by the recent monster human marriage controversy.”

You felt a sinking feeling in your gut. This was too close, it was too real. A place you knew so well, and near your friends and… loved ones. 

The news cut to an interview with a man who looked shaken, saying, “These guys just came running up in masks, and next thing we knew they were throwing bricks into the window there!” He gestured offscreen, “then they went inside and started shouting. I don't know what happened, we got out of there.”

It cut back to the reporter who finished with, “Sources confirm there was a confrontation in the store that grew violent. Reported injuries are a male human and a male skeleton. Police have made no statements at this time.”

 

The news cut to the next segment. You dropped the remote control and felt like vomiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some sex, some fluff and some horrible news. Sorry for more cliffhangers! I can only fit so much into each chapter! <3


	22. Enemies & Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who was the skeleton that was injured? Sick with worry, you race to the skeleton brothers' house to see if they're okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

You were shaking as you tapped out a message on your phone to Sans

“Is everything okay?” you managed to type, cursing your anxious fingers.

You stared at the phone screen as you sent the message, trying to will the brothers to simply “be okay”. You'd never seen another skeleton in your city, but there could be one, right? Surely if something had happened, someone would already have contacted you?

You trembled on your sofa, the news droning on about some new recipe book. You were halfway between tears and nausea. As you reached down to grab the remote, you considered texting Tess to tell her about the news. Flicking off the television, you decided you didn't want this to feel real yet. If you told Tess you were worried, then you wouldn't be able to pretend.

You wanted to worry alone for a while.

You wanted this to not be happening.

You wanted Sans to be okay.

 

You scolded yourself at that, you wanted Papyrus to be okay too. He was too sweet to be hurt by this horrible human world. But Sans…. A small voice in your mind wailed, _“but I just found him!!!”_

You sat, shaking, staring at your phone's screen.

It felt like a thousand years of waiting, when suddenly a message notification popped up.

 **sans ;)** : “come over?”

Relieved to get a response, but still concerned, you grabbed your jacket and shoved your phone in your pocket. Glancing out the window, you noted it was already quite dark.

You rushed over to the skeletons’ house, in a blind panic. You started off walking quickly, but as you went it wasn't fast enough. You broke into a run, and arrived at the house panting and exhausted. You raised your fist, but Sans opened the door before you could knock more than once.

His face looked strained but he attempted a smile as he let you in.

You didn't even take off your shoes and coat, as you grabbed his shoulders and stared into his face.

“Are you okay? I was so worried? I saw the news and-” you let out a small sob, “Wait, if you're okay, is… Is Papyrus okay?”

Sans let out a shaky breath and replied, “He's in his room. Some assholes attacked his work…. He's got a broken arm.”

You gasped and a hand flew to your mouth, “No!”

“He’ll be alright, the… hospital didn't have much monster medicine, but they fixed him up with a cast,” Sans was shaking his head, “By the time I got there he was doing better, but I thought I’d get him home and give him some of the supplies we have here.”

“I'm so sorry, Sans,” you moved towards him for a hug as he practically fell into your arms.

You hugged for a second before you heard a voice from Papyrus’ room.

 

“SANS!? WHO WAS AT THE DOOR!?” Papyrus’ voice echoed through the house.

Chuckling dryly, Sans extracted himself from the hug.

“We should probably go see him. As you can tell, it hasn't really affected his mood,” he rolled his eyes.

“As long as he's feeling up to it?” you answered cautiously.

“SANS!? IS THAT THE HUMAN?” his brother shouted again.

“Should be fine,” Sans laughed but was clearly still upset, “He slept for a bit, and I have a quiche in the oven he needs to eat whenever it's done. I should go check on that now. Head on up to see him, if you like.”

You took off your winter gear while Sans went to the kitchen. Pushing open the door at the top of the stairs, you poked your head in cautiously. Papyrus was laying propped up in bed, blankets over him. A chair was placed beside the bed. He lit up as soon as he saw you, and called your name happily. A rarity, considering he usually referred to you as “human”.

“Hey, Papyrus!!!” you replied. His joy was somehow infectious and it filled you with relief. Your heart was still racing though. You had been so terrified.

“You came to visit me! Would you like to sign my cast!?” Papyrus scrabbled at his side table with his good arm.

He pulled a pen out of a pile of candy wrappers and waved it at you.

“Sure,” you couldn't help smiling as you took the pen and sat down on the bed beside him.

He held out his cast, and you saw there was only one signature on it so far. Just a simple scribbly “sans”. You signed your name, and “get well soon!”, adding a silly doodle of you and Papyrus smiling beside it.

You capped the pen and laid it back on the side table.

Papyrus was already craning his head over the cast to see what you’d written.

“I had no idea you were such a talented artist!!!!!” he said in shock.

Blushing, you waved your hand, “It’s nothing.”

“It is not nothing!” Papyrus was grinning at you, “It’s wonderful! Thank you!”

Just then, Sans showed up with a plate in each hand and sat down on the chair. Handing a plate and fork to each of you, he said, “Here, eat up.”

It was the quiche Sans had mentioned downstairs, and while it looked a little burnt on the edges, and maybe a little soggy, it smelled good.

Papyrus placed his plate on his lap and ate with his good hand, while you tasted the quiche yourself.

“Sans, this is actually really good!!!” you exclaimed as you ate.

Sans looked over at you looking slightly annoyed, “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

You couldn’t answer because your mouth was full, so you made what you felt was an apologetic expression.

His face softened, as he ended with, “I’ll have you know I’m an **egg** -cellent cook!”

“But not as good as me,” Papyrus grumbled, and then added, “Stop making food puns.”

 

You smiled as you ate, feeling better than you had all week. Somehow you felt lighter. 

“How’s your arm?” Sans leaned in to look at Papyrus closely, “Is that helping?”

You observed with interest as Papyrus answered, “It helps, but it’s going to take longer. Don’t you remember, Sans? The doctor said I need to wait for it to heal properly.”

Sans slumped back on to his chair looking tense.

“Yeah, I remember,” he sighed.

Curious, you looked down at your quiche.

“Is this… monster medicine?” you ventured a guess.

“Yeah,” Sans rubbed one brow ridge with his hand, making a gentle clacking noise, “It’s one of the better ones, I had to hunt down some ingredients and then infuse it with magic. It’s why only monsters can make it. Somehow it works on humans, though.”

He settled back on to the chair, looking exhausted.  
You felt guilty for eating some of the medicine intended for Papyrus, and made to give it back, “You guys should keep my portion then, if Papyrus needs it.”

Papyrus looked dismayed, and reached out his fork to poke you gently in the arm, “No, it is okay! The Great Papyrus knows how to share!”

You looked over and Sans was nodding, “When I saw how you looked when you got here I thought you could use it.”

“Well, jeez,” you felt a bit insulted at that, did you look bad?

“No, no,” Sans clearly realised how insulting that sounded, and started explaining, “This stuff heals your soul. It’s not just for physical injuries, although it does help heal them. But since the very core of everyone’s being is the soul, it uses magic to act directly on that. It’s why it helps you feel better.”

You listened, fascinated at the new information. You knew that monster researchers had been working with humans ever since they’d come to the surface, but much of the research hadn’t made it to peer-review yet and wasn’t commonly public knowledge. All this stuff about souls had certainly caused a lot of drama at the time, you could recall.

But monster medicine had definitely not made it to being approved for human consumption yet. You were likely one of the few humans around who had tried it.

 

“That’s why my arm will still take time to heal,” Papyrus sounded irritated, “Although not as long as it would take a human!”

You nodded and took another bite of the healing food, appreciating the way it seemed to make your emotions feel less intense.

“So…” you began awkwardly, “What happened?”

 

Sans eyes were black pits as Papyrus started telling his story.

 

Sans and Papyrus had gone to lunch with Undyne and Alphys earlier. After that, the two monster women had set off back to their own home, Sans had come back here, and Papyrus went to work. He worked at the pet store in the little shopping plaza near your house. You smiled at how perfect that was for him. Imagining Papyrus taking care of animals made you really wish to see it for yourself, but you kept listening politely.

It had been like any other day, when a brick had crashed though the front window and a group of men in balaclavas had rushed in. The brick had smashed open the side of the kitten enclosure, and they were frantically mewing and running out into the store. There was broken glass everywhere, and angry shouting men.

 

“I had to protect them!!!!” Papyrus looked distraught, “They are so small, you see! They are entrusted to my care! It’s my JOB!”

You laid a hand on Papyrus’ leg through the blanket and nodded earnestly, “You did great, Papyrus.”

You heard an odd noise, and you looked over. Sans was jiggling his leg slightly in anxiety. It was making a faint clicking noise.

 

Papyrus resumed his tale.

 

The men had started shouting at him, things about monsters and undergrounders and demons. They started yelling threats, and a rock had gone whizzing past his head, embedding itself in some pet supplies at the front desk. Papyrus had been kneeling on the ground, gathering the kittens to safety, when his manager had come out from the back.

 

“He bravely stood in front of me and told them to leave,” Papyrus sounded choked up, “He told them I was….”

The tall skeleton hiccuped a sob.

“...he said I was the best worker he ever had. And that, he’d rather have one monster like me than a hundred of trash like them.”

Papyrus couldn’t continue any more and burst into great wracking sobs.

Horrified, you felt tears pricking the corners of your eyes.

Sans voice spoke up dully, “They threw a rock at the guy. And then beat him pretty badly. He’s still in the hospital.”

Papyrus made a sad little sound and kept crying.

You swallowed, mouth dry. You forced yourself to take another bit of the quiche, knowing it would ease at least a fraction of the sorrow in your soul.

Sans nodded approvingly at you, adding, “Pap, take another bite, bro. I mean it.”

You wanted to ask if the kittens were okay, but you were scared of the answer.

“So… what happened then?” you ventured, putting the plate at the end of the bed.

Sans finished the story as Papyrus finished his food, “The kittens were gathered up between Papyrus and one other employee while the manager was fighting off those assholes. They got them in the cage in the back. A customer tried to help the manager, but it was mostly over by then. Papyrus stood up to get those fuckers, but one of them still had a brick. That’s how his arm got broken.”

You heard Papyrus rub his cast with boney fingers.

The look on Sans’ face was terrifying, “Then the cops showed up and the bigots tried to run. Didn’t get very far. Heh.”

Sans sounded as emotionless as Papyrus was full of emotion. It worried you. You wondered if he had eaten any of the food. You thought he probably needed it.

“I saved the kittens, but...b-but...,” Papyrus wept, “I couldn’t save my boss.”

You leaned in, “Oh Pap, honey.”

You hugged him gently, trying not to bump his broken arm.

Sans slid his chair over to the bed and joined the awkward hug.

Neither of you seemed to know what to say to Papyrus, so you both just held him as he cried.

You all stayed like that for a while.

 

Tiptoeing out of Papyrus’ room later, you and Sans carried the empty plates with you.

“He’ll sleep for a while, I should have some Sea Tea ready for him in the morning,” Sans rumbled quietly.

“Your brother is really brave,” you told Sans, as you put your plate in the sink, “He went through something really scary and he’s only worried about other people being okay.”

“Yeah, he’s… he’s pretty great,” Sans was standing in the dark kitchen behind you, eyes glowing faintly pointed at the floor.

“I’m glad he’s going to be okay,” you sighed.

“Yeah...” he sounded completely exhausted.

“Are… are **you** okay, Sans?” you walked to him and placed a hand on his hoodie sleeve.

“I’m always okay,” he said in a hollow voice, “I have to be.”

“Come here,” you grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

He mumbled something against your shoulder.

“What?” you pulled back from the hug slightly.

“I'm just… so fucking sick of people I love getting hurt,” his pupils were faint and darted away from eye contact.

“Yeah, the world sucks,” you agreed, and then realized he was also talking about you.

“I love you too,” you said quietly.

He didn't answer, but hugged you tighter, and you felt his boney fingers gripping at your waist.

“Will you stay tonight?” he said into your ear softly and sadly.

“Of course,” you squeezed him back, “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor sweet cinnamon roll. I'm so sorry, Pap. I'm so sorry, Sans. ;_; MY SKELLIES.


	23. Stink & Snuggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

You stood hugging Sans for a long while. Finally, your silent comfort was enough for him and he pulled away.

“Thanks,” he mumbled quietly, “I'll go lock up. Did you… need anything from your place? I can grab it for you…”

“No it's fine,” you replied, “As long as you can do a quick trip with me tomorrow morning so I can get ready before work.”

Your face fell as you remembered you had to face Jeff tomorrow. Had he already sent the pictures? Was your fate sealed? Was Sans going to lose his job too? And with Papyrus unable to work with his broken arm… what would happen to the two monster men? How would they pay rent?

“Sure,” Sans answered, but then seemed to sense your internal turmoil.

“Hey, it's gonna be okay,” he sounded confident, in stark opposition to his earlier mood.

“I just really wish I didn't have to lose my job,” you heard your voice tremble and hated yourself for it a little.

Sans rubbed your arm gently, “Don't worry about that, kid. You're not going to lose your job.”

“Well, yeah, actually, I kind of am,” you felt mildly annoyed somehow, as if Sans was just pretending everything was fine, “and you are too!”

You felt guilty for adding that detail, and instantly regretted lashing out.

“I'm coming in to work with you in the morning,” he ignored your last comment.

“What?” you sputtered, “But your shift doesn't even start until 7pm! Sans, what are you planning?”

He just smiled a secret smile, leaned in and pressed his teeth to your lips.

“Everything will be fine,” he murmured, “Don't worry about it.”

You were still concerned, but you felt a small spark of hope grow in your heart. You squashed it instantly. Hoping was just going to make it harder tomorrow.

 

Sans went to lock up, and you wandered to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Splashing water on your face, you pondered the events that had led you here.

You couldn't bring yourself to regret any of it. Even the misunderstandings and conflicts had turned into what you had now. Whatever that was. You'd find a way to survive, and you were going to stick with this skeleton and his sweet brother. No matter what. A tapping at the bathroom door pulled you out of your reverie.

“Yeah?” you tried to answer quietly.

 “Got you some PJs,” Sans voice was muffled, “Leaving them outside the door.”

 Opening the door, you grabbed the clothes he left and grinned at the shirt. “Talk Nerdy to Me” was written on it in blue print that was flaking off at the edges. Slipping it on, with a pair of soft black shorts, you wandered out to the darkened living room.

“Hey,” Sans was standing there in just plaid pyjama pants, the bones of his hips visible above the tie waist.

“Hey,” you smiled, feeling oddly shy.

“So you can crash in my bed if you want, and I'm okay with taking the sofa…” he trailed off.

“But?” you teased him gently.

Chuckling, he answered, “You got me. I… kind of want to hold you tonight, y’know?”

 “I know,” you slipped your arms around his ribcage for a hug, “It’s why I stayed. I think we both kind of need it right now, to be honest. It's been a rough couple of days.”

 “You're not kidding,” Sans squeezed you back, before grabbing your hand and pulling you to come upstairs with him.

 “Let's hit the hay,” he said in a loud whisper.

 

Upon entering his room, your lip curled slightly. It was as messy as it had been last time, from what you could remember. But somehow it hadn't seemed as bad when you'd been suffering from a head wound and concussion. There were clothes, papers, and trash scattered across the room. There was a faint musty smell that wasn't exactly pleasant, and the balled up pile on sheets on his bed looked stained with god knows what.

 “Um…..” you awkwardly began.

 “Sorry,” Sans noticed your dismay, “I'm a slob.” He shrugged, which made his apology seem almost insincere.

 “Do you at least have any spare sheets?” you tried not to laugh at his uncomfortable expression.

 “In the hall closet,” he answered, his hands clicking together as he fidgeted, “Papyrus washes them for us.”

 You tiptoed out to the hall and pulled open the door as quietly as you could manage.

 Grabbing a spare change of sheets, you also snagged a blanket and 2 pillows that were in there. You made a silent note to yourself to thank Papyrus for his tidy habits tomorrow. You weren't exactly prepared to sleep on whatever it was all over Sans’ bed.

 As you re-entered his room, you saw Sans standing over by the window, curtains flapping gently from the breeze outside. It was already fairly chilly in the room by now.

 “Thought I'd let some fresh air in,” he said, clearly nervous, “Since if you refused to stay over, it would really **blow**.”

 You started laughing at the pun, combined with the sweet gesture for such a gross problem. The tension in his face eased as you laughed.

 “Sans, it's freezing outside!” you yelped, “But it does smell better in here. Sorry, my human nose wasn't quite prepared.”

 “I can warm it up again after with magic,” he smiled at you, eyes brighter than before.

 “Fine, you can leave it open while I make the bed,” you started peeling off the gross bedding and dumped it just outside the bedroom door.

 

Once the bed was made and the old funky air had been evacuated, it looked damn cozy.

Sans slid the window closed and joined you by the bed. It was very cold, and you shivered as you climbed into the bed and pulled the sheets up. The clean fabric felt lovely against your bare legs. Sans flicked off the side table light, plunging the room into total darkness. You felt him join you under the covers before your eyes could adjust to the low light levels. The bare bones of his chest were absolutely freezing. You let out a tiny shriek as he brushed against you, and he pulled back slightly.

 “Shit, I always forget how sensitive non-skeletons are to cold,” he apologized, “Let's see if I can heat this up a little.”

 Suddenly, the room was filled with the blue glow of Sans’ eye, and you felt the air underneath the blanket with you warm up instantaneously.

 It was like getting into a warm bath, but dry, and it was delightful. You moaned at the pleasant warmth flooding through you, and Sans’ boney hands found your waist.

“I'm not exactly great at fire magic,” Sans’ voice was low in your ear, “I can't get it warm enough to actually make fire. But warm? Warm I can do.”

 “I still think you're **hot** ,” you quipped, unable to resist the play on words.

 The monsters’ fingers gripped you tightly as he let out an enormous wheezy laugh. He clutched at you and squirmed his head into the space between your shoulder and neck. You slipped your hands around him to complete the embrace, as his body shook.

He hadn't stopped laughing, and you couldn't help but join in, while trying to stay quiet so as not to wake his brother.

 “You're perfect,” he finally breathed, faint laughter lingering in his tone.

 Heart pounding, you shook your head slightly, “I'm not, but I'm glad you think so.”

 “Don't leave?” Sans’ voice sounded small suddenly.

 “Same to you,” you held him tighter, “I'm not going anywhere.”

 “Thanks,” he sighed, relaxing into you.

 You both laid like that for what felt like hours.

 

He broke the silence, “It really will be fine, y’know.”

 “Hm?” you felt confused, “What will?”

 Sans nuzzled his skull against you, “Everything.”

 “You think?” you felt a cold dread seep back in as you remembered all the conflict you faced.

 “I know,” he rumbled.

 “I'm sorry about Papyrus,” you stroked his shoulder blades with delicate fingers.

 The skeleton didn't answer at first.

 “He’ll be okay,” Sans actually sounded upset, “I just hate it had to happen to him. Of all monsters, you know?”

 “He's staying positive,” you soothed him, “and the doctor said his arm will heal fine, right?”

 You felt Sans sigh, “You're right. I just… it's hard. It will be okay, but it's hard.”

 Then, a pause.

 

Almost too quiet to hear, he spoke your name.

A query, cautious and hesitant.

After a brief moment he followed it with, “I'm glad I have you.”

 

Your heart filled with joy, as you ran your fingers down his ribs in gentle circles.

 “Me too, Sans,” you mouthed against his skull, “and you do. Have me, I mean.”

 His only answer was silence, but you felt that odd thrumming of his magic through his ribs pressed into you. Even if everything in life was hard, you thought, this moment is perfect. You were warm, and curled against a monster who clearly loved you. And who swore everything was going to be okay.

 

And you couldn't help but believe him somehow. Because whatever happened tomorrow, you had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to get some canon slobby Sans in there. Sorry, if it grossed anyone out! ;)  
> This chapter made me feel all warm and sleepy, and I'm really glad I can go to bed right after publishing! HAHAHA
> 
> Tomorrow, they have to go to work. OH MAN. THE SUSPENSE.


	24. Nerves & Nice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday morning, the day that you've dreaded. Will Jeff follow through on his threat, or was it a bluff? And what is Sans planning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

You woke to what sounded like dishes being dropped in a sink downstairs. Blinking, your eyes still bleary, you took in your unfamiliar surroundings. 

Your back was curled up against what felt like a pile of bones and fabric. Oh. Sans.

Last night flooded back into your head. You rushing over, Papyrus being hurt, Sans needing you to stay… and now it was Monday. You had to go back to work and face Jeff. 

Jeff and the footage of your security office antics. 

You took a breath to center yourself.

 

Skeletal hands slid around your midsection. 

“Hey, sweetcheeks,” a low voice rumbled behind you, “Mornin’.”

You smiled in spite of your mood, and laid a hand over Sans’ hand.

“Hey,” you replied, “Morning.”

He nuzzled into you tightly and you felt so comfortable you never wanted to get up.

“Can’t we just… run away somewhere?” You said softly.

“Can’t do that,” Sans answered.

You groaned and pushed your face into the pillow, “But why not, though?”

“Gotta’ live somewhere,” you felt him breathe into your neck, “Can’t keep runnin’.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, “You’re… not wrong.”

“Come on, babes, let’s get up,” Sans poked you, “Big day today.”

“Don’t remind me,” you spoke into the pillow.

 

You both laid in the bed coiled against eachother.

Finally, your cell phone alarm started beeping frantically, and you resentfully clambered out of the skeleton’s bed. 

“Fine,” you grumbled, “But I’m just going in to get fired. I don’t see why I should even bother going, unless it was to quit before they can fire me.”

You heard another loud clang from downstairs. Chuckling, Sans slid out of bed behind you. 

“Let’s go see how Paps is doing,” he said.

 

Downstairs was a mess. Papyrus was scampering around the kitchen knocking things over with his one good arm. There were ingredients coating half of the counters and tables, and cutlery scattered across the floor.

Noticing you and Sans emerging from the doorway looking rumpled, he deflated.

“I was trying to make breakfast for you two,” the tall skeleton sighed sadly, “I couldn’t make it in time.”

“Looks like you…” Sans winked at you, “Need a **hand** , bro.”

Your eyes became huge and your jaw dropped. Did he just make a pun about Papyrus’ injury?

“Sans!!!!” Papyrus yelled, “I can’t believe you would use my injury against me for such a terrible pun!!!!”

“What?” Sans shrugged, “I didn’t see any  **‘arm** in it.”

Papyrus was grinning hugely and attempting to make mean eyebrows at the same time.

“SANS!” He sounded more amused than angry, “Get out! I will make you and your human some eggs or… cereal. I think the Great Papyrus can handle that. Go get ready!”

 

You both wandered out to the living room, and you shot Sans a look.

“Is he okay with that?” You ventured, “the joking thing about his arm, I mean.”

Sans smiled slightly, “Yeah, it’s better if stuff just goes back to normal. He wouldn’t like it if I acted differently around him.”

“Yeah, I guess,” you reluctantly agreed.

“He pretends he doesn’t, but he loves my jokes,” Sans grinned fondly.

Remembering the joy on Papyrus’ face as he attempted to look angry, you found yourself unable to disagree.

“Did… did he call me ‘your human’?” you felt your face heat up as you asked.

“Seems so,” the skeleton cast a sly glance sideways, “S’that okay?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” you stuttered, not sure how to respond, “I was just… checking.”

You felt a hard hand pinch your bottom and you let out a tiny scream and burst into laughter.

“Damn you! W-we’d better get ready, skeleton man,” you slapped his hand away as he giggled.

 

After a quick teleport trip to your house, you had showered and gotten ready while Sans had gone back to his place. You wanted to face your consequences looking decent at least.

Smoothing down your shirt, you wondered at the futility of it all. Why even bother going in? You didn’t even like your job that much. You were overworked, and they never brought in any help for you. You should be happy about this. You sighed at your own failed efforts to rationalize your misfortune. 

You checked your phone as you waited for Sans to pop back to pick you up. Staring at Tessa’s name, you figured you owed her an explanation of everything that had happened over the past couple of days. Everything was moving so fast. You bashed out a quick text promising to call her soon. 

Just then, Sans showed up in your living room in that silent way he had. He was in his security outfit.

“Yo,” he gave a little salute and then held out his arms to you, “Shall we?”

You found yourself unable to walk over to him. Your limbs felt like they were made of stone.

“We’re going back to my place to grab that breakfast first,” he sounded like someone trying to coax a small woodland creature over to them, “Not going in to work yet.”

You laughed nervously, “I’m that obvious, huh?”

“A little,” Sans looked incredibly gentle, “It’s understandable. But I promise it will be fine.”

“How can it be!?” you felt a harsh note creep into your tone, “How can we explain this?”

“Just go about your day”, Sans insisted, “I promise.”

You'd never seen such intense sincerity in anyone's eyes before.

“Can't you just tell me what you're going to do?” you were fed up and sick of having the truth hidden from you.

“I can't tell you,” he shook his head, “it has to be genuine. And if it doesn't work-”

You let out a small noise of dismay.

“-you'll have plausible deniability.”

He noticed your frantic expression,and added, “It will work, though!”

He held out his arms further, in a clear effort to entice you to come with him.

You decided to trust Sans, and walked to his waiting embrace. 

Wrapping your arms around eachother, he leaned in and whispered, “Hold on.”

 

Blackness, the blackness of your heart when you saw the photo Jeff held, when you thought Sans had been hurt, when you saw it was Papyrus instead. And then colour. Sparking, exploding in your eyes after the sensory deprivation of the void. Gasping into Sans’ shoulder, your fingers clutched at him reflexively.

 

“Rough one, huh?” He rubbed your back gently, “That happens sometimes. The state of your emotions can affect the trip occasionally. Never fun. You must be in a bad way, though.”

Suddenly Papyrus’ loud voice rang out, “I ruined breakfast, but I found these leftover nice creams in the fridge!”

You were shaky as you raised your head to see Sans’ brother. Papyrus looked excited and was holding up three individually wrapped frozen treats in his good arm. 

“Good call, bro,” Sans held your shoulders so you wouldn’t fall, “She’s not doing so well right now.”

Papyrus looked concerned, “Is… this about what that other human said to you on our pasta night?”

“Yeah,” you took the offered ice cream, and started unwrapping it, “Thanks.”

Sans looked torn, but decided you would stay standing just fine, and let go of you to take the last package for himself.

“It will be fine, human,” Papyrus looked confident, “My brother may be lazy, but he’s very smart. I’m sure it will be okay. He never lets anything bad happen to me!”

Sans’ eyes darted to Papyrus’ cast at that comment, and an awkward silence dropped over the kitchen.

All three of you stood awkwardly tugging the packages open while you all clearly tried not to notice his broken arm. Sans was the first to open the snack, and a cheerful voice sang out “You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!”

Laughing, he chomped the ice cream in two bites. 

“Here’s hoping that’s true,” he winked.

 

You had jumped, startled at the voice from the package, and tugged yours open by reflex. An unfamiliar but kind voice said, “Everything will be okay, and you have people who love you very much!”

You felt tears rising up and blinked them away. Papyrus said, “It’s right, too! YOU DO! You totally do!” and leaned in to hug you, attempting to open his nice cream with his good arm without breaking the hug.

Sans joined the hug and said, “So, uh, after this and last night, I’ve hit my group hug quota for the month, guys.”

Laughing, Papyrus tugged his wrapper open with his teeth and a voice rang out beside you, “You’re super awesome, and don’t forget it!”

“It’s like it knows you, bro!” Sans poked him in the side and tugged you both closer into the hug.

 

You had grown to love this little family. You felt stupid for worrying. You were ready to face down your life.   


“I’m ready, Sans,” you took a deep breath, and ate your nice cream, “Let’s go.”

Papyrus stepped backwards, and waved goodbye with his good arm, dripping nice cream on himself.

“Good luck! Everything will be fine!” He sounded so confident, and you used that to fuel your own feelings.

You and Sans hugged more tightly as you shut your eyes and felt the void wash over you.

Whatever was in those frozen things was clearly more monster magic, because you felt about five times more positive about what awaited you.

 

The positivity lasted until you opened your eyes and saw the front doors of your office.

“We can still run away?” You asked, only half kidding.

“Come on,” Sans tugged on your hand, “Won’t let anything bad happen to my human.”

Being called “his human” lit a fire in your belly that forced you to walk. You were going to be okay, you just kept telling yourself. Maybe if you told yourself that same lie enough, you would be able to believe it long enough to make it through today.

 

You both walked from the elevator to your desk, noting that Jeff was sitting at his desk already. Jeff turned his head to catch your eye, and he smirked as you glanced away quickly. 

Sans set up camp in the empty area near your desk with the water cooler, leaning against the wall. He locked his eyes on Jeff and stayed there. You couldn't help but steal a glance at Jeff’s reaction, which was a hateful lip curl. The tension between those two was practically crackling in the air. 

You quickly sat down and loaded up your workstation, out of sheer muscle memory. You shook your head at the futility of it, but considered the fact it would likely be awkward to just sit and wait to be fired. You may as well look busy. If only for your own distraction. 

What was Sans planning? You spared a moment of fear for him. If you were going to be fine, as he assured you, what about him? Was he going to claim he'd taken advantage of you? You shivered at the idea of a trial for a monster accused of molesting a human coworker. He wouldn't do well in that case.

More people started filtering in and sitting down. The work day had begun.  You could feel Jeff’s eyes return to you. He seemed to be enjoying your palpable terror.

You mindlessly opened some work file and clicked around, unable to concentrate.

 

Suddenly, the office exploded in a quiet din of chatter. The kind of small gasps and hushed tones not meant to be overheard. The girl from accounts started giggling.

You noticed a new email from Jeff sitting at the top of your inbox. The subject line read,  **“Just thought you might want to see this”** . The email was addressed to everyone in the company. There were attachments to the email. You knew what it was. You couldn't bring yourself to click it.

Your heart was like a hammer in your chest, you couldn't breathe, you felt like you were going to faint. Coming in was so stupid. Why did you let the brothers convince you it would be okay? This was hell. A disaster. You were hyperventilating. 

Suddenly a boney hand rested on your shoulder. Sans was still behind you.

 

“Breathe,” his low voice was in your ear, “Slowly. Trust me.”

 

You had just started to get your breathing under control when you heard Mr. Adling call your name from behind you. You turned to respond.

“Y-yes?” you were still shaken, and your voice was small and timid.

“Can I talk to you in my office? I assume you know what it's about,” he looked deathly serious.

“Of course,” you answered meekly. At least it was going to be in private. You felt humiliated.

“Oh hey! Sans, right? Why not pop in as well, I know you're not on the clock but this concerns you too,” Mr. Adling turned to go in to his office. You were expected to follow him.

You stood on wobbling legs, trying to ignore the fact that Jeff was watching you intently. He looked very satisfied with himself. Shooting Sans a terrified look, you couldn't even begin to move.

Sans just nodded at you. You knew you had to move. 

You had to trust Sans. 

What else was there to do? 

You both walked to the office amid the chatter of your other coworkers. Prepared for your fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. IT'S HAPPENING. I'm scared, hold me.


	25. Fear & Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Sans are in Mr. Adling's office, preparing for the worst. Sans swears it's all going to be okay, but is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a doozy, folks. Over twice as long as a normal update.   
> Not much left now folks. Just two more chapters now... one more "true" chapter and an epilogue, if all my figuring is correct. 
> 
> \--------
> 
> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

“I assume you know why I've called you in here,” Mr. Adling began as you took a seat in front of his desk.

“Yes,” you looked down at your hands. Please let me die now, you thought.

“Well, terminations are never easy,” your boss shifted in his seat.

Terminations. You swallowed. 

“But it’s clear Jeff has to be let go,” he finished, “This sort of thing can’t be overlooked.”   


“What?” your head snapped up.

Mr. Adling blinked, looking awkward, “When Jeff sent that email to you with threats and explicit pictures of himself, you may not have noticed, but he also accidentally CC’d the entire company. It's how HR and I found out. Sorry, I assumed you had seen the CC field. I understand that may have been the last thing on your mind.”

Your jaw dropped. You knew Sans had caused this, but you couldn’t risk turning your head to look at him while talking with Mr. Adling.

“Oh…” you said lamely.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed you knew. Anyways, has Jeff been bothering you a lot?” Mr. Adling looked gentle as he leaned across his desk.

You swallowed and looked down, “Uhhh, yeah. For a while now. A year at least.”

Mr. Adling nodded, “I figured this wasn’t an isolated incident. We normally have a three strikes rule here, but in situations such as this… well, let’s just say he used up all three at once.”

He turned to Sans then, “Sans, I’m glad you’re here. We plan to terminate Jeff at the end of day to minimize any… unfortunate scenarios.”

Sans chuckled, “Sounds reasonable.”

“I was wondering if you would like to come in a bit early, say, around end of work day for the office staff, maybe a little before?” Mr. Adling leaned back in his chair, “We’ve had some problems before, and it would be good to have a security officer on deck when I terminate.”

The skeleton monster was nodding his head.

“We can pay you for your time of course,” your boss quickly added.

“Sounds good, boss,” Sans grinned.

Mr. Adling was just standing up when a loud scream came from the office floor outside.

 

**“What the FUCK!?”** ****  
  


You stood up and Sans turned around just as the office door slammed open, bashing into the wall behind you.

Jeff was standing in the doorway looking furious.

“Those two were having sex in the security office!” Jeff shrieked, “I had proof, but they've done something to it! I didn't send those pictures to her!”

“You did send me those actually,” you piped up, not technically lying, “And Sans and I never had sex in the security office!”

Also not a lie. Your heart was racing.

You could see your coworkers staring into the office watching the whole thing unfold. You made eye contact with a horrified Misty.

Sans spoke in a low warning voice, “Buddy, your obsession with her has got to stop.”

 

Jeff’s face was red, and he was focused on the skeleton monster standing before him.

“You… you did something! What the fuck did you do?” Jeff snarled at Sans.

Sans simply shrugged half heartedly, but his smile was devious.

Without warning, Jeff lunged at Sans. You and Mr. Adling watched in shock as Sans deftly sidestepped the attack. Stumbling forwards, Jeff tried to adjust, but slammed into the office wall instead.

“Jeff…” Mr. Adling began, but was cut off by his furious employee.

“You fucking undergrounder piece of shit, what did you do?” Jeff swung a fist at Sans again, but the monster teleported a few feet to the right. You heard a collective gasp from the people watching.

Jeff was sent staggering forward once again, missing his target.

Sans stood impassively in the middle of the office.

“Jeff, stop this immediately,” your boss sounded like he meant business.

“It was you, wasn't it,” Jeff turned to you, fists clenched, “You monster fucking bitch!”

Your coworker lunged at you, and you were left frozen, body refusing to listen to your instinct to run. Jeff’s hands darted towards your throat as you stood in fear.

You felt his fingers barely brush your neck as the room flashed blue and Jeff was smashed to the ground by an invisible force

He let out a gust of air, clearly winded. You stumbled backwards, away from the enraged man. Sans stepped forward, eyes pits of deepest black with one scintillating pupil flashing blue and gold..

“You don't touch her,” Sans voice was a low growl, “You don't  **ever** touch her.”

 

Jeff just screamed in rage and attempted to lift himself from whatever was holding him to the ground. His nose and lip were bleeding and as he squirmed, the blood was spread on your boss’ carpet.

Mr. Adling kept his cool, and said, “Jeff Smith, you're fired. For gross misconduct, including sexual harassment of another employee, and attempted assault of other employees. Your severance package will be in the mail.” Everyone outside was back at their desks and pretending to work, but you saw the occasional glance into the office and felt like you were on display.

“No! No, it's them! It's them you should fire!” Jeff wailed, “that demon and the monster fucking cunt!”

Mr. Adling turned to you and Sans, “Would either of you object if I call the police? This seems to have escalated.”

“I think that's a good idea,” you could barely stand, and your legs felt like jelly.

“No, fuck, AUGH! This wasn't supposed to happen!” Jeff screamed and turned his head to address you, “If that freak hadn't showed up I would have already fucked you!!!”

You felt your stomach churn. Sans eyes narrowed, but no one spoke.

“I'll call now,” Mr. Adling went to his desk and dialed a number.

While he gave the police the relevant information, Jeff was still wiggling on the floor.

 

You stood there breathing heavily, unable to believe what had happened. Sans laid a gentle hand on your shoulder and gave you a sympathetic look. Your heart was still hammering in your chest.

“I've gotta hold down the fort, but after this, I'm all ears. Even though I don't have ears,” he joked.

When your boss hung up the phone, you all stood there watching as Jeff writhed on the floor. Pushing against Sans’ magic he continued to shout slurs and threats.

Everything was silent except for Jeff’s ramblings. It was awkward. Sans had to stay to hold him, and it was Mr. Adling’s office. You felt weird to be the one to leave, so you just stayed and waited. 

Jeff ranted and basically gave away any pretense of not harassing you. He called you a dumb bitch, he called you a whore. He said he knew you liked those pictures he sent, and various other profane things that proved he was very guilty of harassment.

Mr. Adling looked furious and after a few failed attempts to silence Jeff, he simply stood and watched.

Sans seemed unfazed by it all. He had one hand held out, one eye blazing in his head. Jeff couldn't break whatever magic held him pinned to the ground. 

Jeff looked up at Sans, straining his neck, and back to you, “How the fuck will a skeleton ever please you without a dick?”

His words ended on a strangled note as Sans’ fingers tensed. Jeff's face was forced into the carpet. You felt like you were going to puke. 

 

When the police came into the room, you could see curious coworkers staring into the door of Mr. Adling's office. Everything felt so unreal, as you watched the officers kneel to handcuff Jeff. Sans had released his magic and all the fight was out of Jeff now. You could hear quiet sobs from the man on the floor as they read him his rights.

As Jeff was led out, the other workers were clearly trying to watch without looking like they were. It’s not every day a bleeding coworker is led from the office in handcuffs. One policeman stayed behind.

“I'm Officer Doyle,” the officer had his hands behind his back, standing respectfully, “The suspect is in custody now, I assume he’ll be out on bail soon enough. In cases like these, we recommend hiring some full time security people, just in case. If you don’t have them already?”

He glanced over at Sans, who replied, “No, it’s just me, and I usually only work the night shift. This was an… on-call situation.”

The officer nodded at Sans, “No insult intended, of course. You can't be expected to protect everyone 24/7!”

“None taken,” Sans drawled cheerfully, “I'm only one man.”

The officer chuckled, “Aren't we all. Thanks for helping out.”

“I’ll look into hiring some more security staff,” Mr. Adling assured the cop, “I appreciate the advice. It seems sound.”

Doyle looked serious then, “Will any of you be pressing charges?”

Mr. Adling pointed out, “He only attempted to assault these two, not me.”

“I would like to,” you said cautiously, “I don't want this to happen to anyone else.”

Sans nodded, “I don't think monsters are able to legally press charges yet, but I will if I can.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Doyle smiled warmly and left.

Sans turned to Mr. Adling and said, “Can I go check to make sure the cameras caught all that? They may need it as evidence.”

“Please do,” your boss nodded, “Good call.”

Sans blipped out of the office soundlessly.

“So, how long has Jeff been being inappropriate?” Mr. Adling sat down on the front of his desk, in a casual pose.

“He’d been harassing me for a while before,” you breathed out shakily, “but Jeff didn't like that Sans and I started dating, and he kind of... ramped up the harassment after that.”

Mr. Adling looked stricken, and ran a hand across the short hair on his head, “I'm so sorry this happened. I know I'm away on business a lot, but I wish you'd have let me know about this. You didn't even tell HR?”

You felt stupid then, but explained, “Jeff and Lisa in HR are friends. I thought it would be at best an awkward situation, and at worst it would make my life even more difficult. I thought I could handle it, I guess.”

Mr. Adling nodded. “I can understand that, at least. Still, I'm sorry. This should never have gotten to the level it did.”

“Thank you. I'm sorry too,” you apologized, “I should have told someone.”

Clearing his throat, Mr. Adling changed the subject. “I guess we should get you an assistant. If you were here that late regularly enough to befriend and date the security guard, I might be working you too hard,” the man looked a bit embarrassed, “As long as we’re hiring more security staff, I may as well hire someone else too.”

“Really? Oh, wow, that would be so helpful!” you were almost crying with relief.

“Don't get too excited, it will probably only be an intern!” he chuckled, “but it should help you out some. You do a good job, you take care of a lot of backstage things that help me look better to clients. I’d be a fool to lose you from overworking you!”

Sans reappeared in the centre of the office, and both you and Mr. Adling jumped.

“It’s all on camera,” Sans assured you both, “I flagged that security tape so it won't get deleted.”

“Well done,” Mr. Adling nodded, “Now, as for you two…”

Your stomach sank. What now? Sans came to stand beside your chair.

 

“I don't know what of Jeff’s rantings were true, but we don't have an anti-fraternizing policy. You're free to date anyone here, human or monster,” he leaned in with a grin, “but maybe keep the smooching out of the security office.”

He winked at you both.

Oh god. You felt your face turn the temperature of magma, and you saw an answering blue glow from the corner of your eye.

“Yes, Mr. Adling, sir,” you replied meekly.

“Yessir,” Sans added.

Laughing heartily, Mr. Adling waved his hand, “Call me James!”

“I'll try…” you laughed nervously.

“I'll let you know something,” Mr. Adling… James, grabbed a picture off his desk, “This is me and my girlfriend.”

He handed you the frame. The picture was of him in casual wear, at night. It looked like it was taken outside at a summer bonfire. He had his arm around a woman made of blue fire. The glow of her was glinting off his dark skin, and the other side of him was lit by the warm orange of the bonfire. They looked amazing together.

“She’s beautiful,” you complimented, still in slight shock from the events of the morning.

“I think so too,” James agreed with a grin, “I may be biased, however. So, just so you know, I fully support you two. As long as it all stays professional here, mind you. But if anyone says anything, hmm… inappropriate, just let me know, and it will be dealt with. Whether Lisa is friends with them or not.”

He winked and took back the picture frame.

“Thanks, J-James,” you managed to squeak out.

“Anyway, feel free to take the day off,” Mr. Adling generously offered you, “Paid, of course. It’s been a rough morning. See you tomorrow!”

He glanced over at Sans apologetically, “Not you, though, sorry. We’ll need you back here at 7pm as usual. I trust that’s alright?”

“No problem,” Sans leaned back on his heels, hands in pockets, “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on this place, after all.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Adling chuckled, “Alright you two, get out of here. Try to relax today, okay? I'll expect you on your best tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” you managed to squeak out, as you all walked to the door. You headed back to your desk with Sans, the adrenaline starting to wear off. 

“Okay folks, it's all over, let's get back to work,” Mr Adling called out from the doorway at the still chattering group of staff.

 

You pulled on your coat and grabbed your bag. Suddenly you felt weak and dizzy.

“I'm going to… get some water,” you put one hand on Sans’ arm, “I'll be back in a sec.”

“Sure,” Sans looked worried but nodded as you wandered off.

 

You were standing by the water cooler sipping from a paper cup when Misty came wandering over cautiously. 

“Damn, that was pretty nuts,” she looked uncomfortable.

“It certainly was that,” you agreed.

“I'm really sorry that Jeff was so awful to you,” she continued, “I had no idea he was doing that.”

“I knew everyone was friends with him, so…” you shrugged, “I don't think people would have wanted to believe it anyways.”

“You're probably right,” Misty said reluctantly, “Still, it's fucked up. I'm really sorry. That guy was a total doorknob.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” you laughed, “I know you liked him.”

“Yeah, what was I thinking?” she bonked herself in the head with a fist, “I have terrible taste apparently!”

“Hey, my taste hasn't always been great either!” you tried to cheer her up.

“Still,” the other woman looked ashamed, “I'm really sorry.”

“It's fine,” you assured her, “It really is. But, I should head home, I'm feeling pretty exhausted.”

“Oh, shit, sorry,” Misty's eyes were huge, “Go home and rest, for sure! I'll see you later, okay? Take care.”

 

You smiled as you tossed your cup in the recycling bin and walked back to your desk. Maybe Misty was okay after all. You looked around for Tess, but couldn't find her.

“You all good?” Sans asked you as you came to the desk.

“Yeah, we can go soon,” you nodded, “but I need to go find Tess. Will you wait?”

“Sure thing, peaches,” he leaned back against the wall as you left to find your best friend.

 

You came out of the elevator on Tess’ floor and glanced around. Taking a step into the office, you were suddenly grabbed from behind. Tess yanked your arm towards her and hissed “Oh my GOD, I was in a meeting, we just got out, and everyone was talking about it, I was going to come find you, what happened, are you okay!!?” It all came out in one jumbled breath and she tugged at your elbow.

After you and Tess got into her office, you gave her the short version.

“Holy shit, he got arrested!?” she covered her mouth while looking gleeful, “I wish I'd seen it! Damn!”

“Yeah, and now I have the day off! But I have Sans waiting for me, so I should go…” you trailed off.

“Oh gosh, I didn't mean to keep you, go, go!” Tess shooed you out the door of her office. 

“You guys have fun,” she gave you a suggestive smile and you rolled your eyes at her.

“I'll call you later,” you waved goodbye.

 

You caught the elevator back to your floor and caught Sans’ eye from the doorway to the hall. You waved him over and waited.

“Found her?” the monster queried.

“Yeah, she'd already heard the whole sordid tale,” you snickered, “well most of it, anyways.”

“So, shall we? You want a ride?” he raised one bony eye ridge as he walked up to join you.

You thought for a second, “The weather looks nice, we can walk. I feel better since that water, and… I think it might calm me down.”

Sans looked relieved. 

“Sure, let's walk,” he agreed, “but if you start feeling ‘off’ just let me know.”

You both walked to the elevator and left the office.

 

“How did you do it?” you glanced sideways at Sans as you strolled through the bright chilly morning. The streets weren't busy, and there was still some leftover snow on the ground.

“Do what?” Sans played dumb.

“You know what!” you crossed your arms.

“Fine, fine,” the skeleton held up his hands in surrender, “Alphys and I were chatting at that little get together this weekend. She’s really good with computers.”   
“I KNEW IT!” You crowed, interrupting, “I knew you two were planning something!”

Sans laughed, “You got me. Anyway, we just made it so whatever attachments Jeff added to the next email he sent would be those pictures of his wang he sent you when I had just started here instead. Plus, we set it up so it would look like he sent them to you, but then accidentally added everyone in the company to the CC field. Karma, baby.”

“Oh my god, Sans, isn’t that illegal? Or… something?” you were horrified, “ What if he hadn’t tried to send that footage of us? What if he’d just ignored it? The next time he sent an email attachment, would he have just emailed the whole company his dick!?”

 

Sans shrugged, “He should have thought of that before he started sending pictures of his dick to coworkers. And well before he started    **t h r e a t e n i n g   m y   g i r l f r i e n d** .”

His pupils flickered out for a second, and came back to glance at you.

You swallowed. Neither of you had used that term for eachother before. Your heart swelled with joy. Did Sans really consider you his girlfriend?

“W-What if he had copies at home?” you asked nervously, breaking eye contact, unable for the moment to address the girlfriend comment.

“He didn't,” Sans smirked, “we have a lockdown policy on files here. There's no record of him taking home any of the files. He printed that one pic from the printer here at work.”

Sans snickered as he added, “Plus, I deleted all the security footage for Friday and replaced it with bits of other nights. There's nothing there now, even if he looks again.”

Sans sounded maliciously gleeful.

You both walked in silence.

Finally you spoke.

“Thanks,” you mumbled softly, “for what you did.”

“No problem,” Sans slipped a hand into yours, “Making assholes look ri- **dick** -ulous is just one of the many services I provide.”

You couldn't help but laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GETTTTT DUNKED ON, JEFF.
> 
> I started planning this from chapter 1, with the dick pics. Many of you called it well in advance, so I'm sorry if it's a disappointment. Sans is a smart guy though, there's no way he wouldn't use those pics to his advantage.  
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, it took me almost the full week to write!
> 
> PS. Mr Adling is so cool, and I'm hoping for some fanart of him and his blue fire lady friend. He's a tall black man in his early 40s, clean shaven, with short black hair, and dark rectangular rimmed glasses. ;)


	26. Convenience & Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You return to the brothers' house with good news and prepare to visit Papyrus' manager in the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

The walk back to your neighbourhood was pleasant. The feel of Sans’ warm hand bones in yours was comforting in the brisk air. You both came to Sans’ house and he pulled out his key.

“You wanna pop in?” he asked, “I'm sure Papyrus will want to see you.”

“Sure!” you felt relieved, like you had woken up from a terrible dream.

“Hey Pap, I'm home!” Sans called out as he opened the door.

“Sans!?” you heard the tall skeleton coming downstairs, “How did it go!? You didn't even leave that long ago!”

Papyrus noticed you and grew more frantic sounding, “Oh! Human! You're not at work? Did you get fired!? Did my lazy brother’s plan not work!? I KNEW IT! SAAAANSSSS!!!!”

Papyrus grabbed your shoulders with his good arm and peered into your face.

You held your hands up and started trying to reassure him, but Sans cut in.

“The plan went perfectly, bro,” Sans chuckled, taking off his shoes, “Went off without a hitch. Jeff was fired, we weren't.”

Papyrus released your arm and sighed, his eyes closed.

“That's a huge relief! The Great Papyrus was worried…” he opened his eyes, “if either of you lost your jobs it would be terrible!”

“I'm going to go change out of my uniform,” Sans was already on his way up the stairs.

You sat down in the living room with Papyrus to tell him about how the morning went.

When Sans came slouching downstairs in his shorts and t-shirt, Papyrus looked up.

“Brother… Can we… visit my manager at the hospital soon?” he asked in a quiet tone, “He protected me and I’d… like to make sure he's okay and thank him. The news said he's in stable condition.”

“No problem, bro,” Sans grinned, “Call the hospital and arrange a day and time. I'll bring some monster candy.”

“Thank you, Sans!” Papyrus leapt up and rushed to the phone in the kitchen.

 

Sans strolled over to the sofa and plopped down beside you.

“Crazy day, hey kitten?” he slid one arm around your shoulders.

“You could call it that,” you snuggled into his warmth, reflecting on how odd it still was that a skeleton had body heat.

“I told you that you can trust me,” he pulled you closer.

“Thanks again, Sans…” you murmured, “I'm… I'm glad you started working with me.”

“Same here, cutie,” his eyes were half lidded and gentle, “Definitely worth it.”

Papyrus skidded back into the room joyfully, “We can go visit him today! Visiting hours are until 6pm!”

“Sounds good, bro,” Sans glanced over to you, “Wanna come along?”

“I have the day off, why not?” you nodded, “I'd like to thank the guy for standing up for you, Papyrus.”

“Can we go now!?” Papyrus was practically vibrating with energy.

“Hold up,” Sans looked amused, “I think I'm short on monster candy. I was gonna pick some up. Let's stop at the convenience store first.”

Your eyes opened wider, “They sell monster food at convenience stores? I thought that wasn't allowed…”

Sans chuckled, “It's not a chain store, it's just a little privately run place. They'll sell monster stuff to monsters under the table. The one here just opened recently, but most cities with a high monster population have places like that already.”

“Oh, huh,” you were still shocked, “That's cool! But, like, sad that it has to be so hard to find.”

“Human regulatory agencies are very picky,” Papyrus sniffed disdainfully, “Humans can eat our food just fine!”

“It's pretty good actually,” you agreed, “I'm sad more people don't get to experience it. I guess I'm lucky to be so... close with you guys that I get to have it sometimes.”

“Yes, you are very lucky to know us!” Papyrus seemed to brighten up at your compliment.

Sans just smiled at you.

 

You had all gotten ready to go out and set off following Sans. He took the three of you on a meandering route through the city, and you were half suspecting he'd gotten lost and just hadn't mentioned it. Finally you came to a dingy little side entrance of a building and he stopped.

“Is this it?” you asked dubiously.

“This isn't as nice as the one in that LA city,” even Papyrus looked uneasy.

“LA!? They really do have these everywhere,” you breathed out.

“Hey, it's not much but it's pretty great,” Sans shrugged as he lifted a hand and his magic eye flared blue.

You heard the click of the door unlocking and he winked at you as he pushed it open.

 

The dimly lit store was filled with various odds and ends. Some of it just looked like trash, to be honest. You noticed an old ice cream freezer that looked like it was from the 1950s, and saw packages inside that you recognized as Nice Cream, as well as other things you weren’t sure about. There were toys and torn accessories on shelves and hanging in bundles from the ceiling. There was a single high window, and even though it was covered in a layer of grime, the winter sun shone through in beams. Dust swirled in the sunlight and you felt sad that monsters had to hide their store. You heard rustling near the back, and a cat monster popped out from behind a desk that was clearly being used as a makeshift counter.

“Hey, Sans, how's it going?” he drawled out, clearly bored.

“Hey, we--” Sans began.

“Hey! I know you!” you said in surprise, cutting Sans off and pointing at the clerk.

The monster behind the counter blinked at you slowly.

Sans glanced over at you, his expression unreadable.

“I don't think so?” the cat man looked dubious.

“Yeah, you used to work the coffee kiosk near my work? I met you last year, a man threw coffee on you and didn't pay, and I paid for his drink…” you trailed off, suddenly worried you'd mixed him up with a different cat monster. That would be embarrassing.

“Oh yeah. I guess that was you,” the cat man was nodding, “That sort of thing happens a lot. The angry customer thing, not the someone paying for it thing.”

He sounded fed up to a point past caring.

“You know Burgerpants!?” Sans actually looked shocked.

“I… didn't know that was his name, but yeah…” you felt a little awkward now, “and we don't really know eachother, he just made me coffee… a few times.”

“So,” Burgerpants said in a deadpan voice, “What do you guys need?”

Sans grinned hugely and said “Picking up some monster candy for a human friend of my brothers’, actually.”

Papyrus piped up then, “He saved me from a bunch of anti-monster protesters!” Papyrus waved his broken arm at the clerk.

“Hmm, a lot of those around lately,” Burgerpants looked wary at Papyrus’ injury, “Had to choose this place carefully to avoid that kind of crap. Still, you like to live dangerously, giving this stuff to humans. You'd better not lead anyone back here.”

“No worries, man,” Sans assured him, “It's all good. You know as well as I do this stuff doesn't hurt humans. I won't tell anyone where we got it.”

Papyrus had walked off to inspect a shelf of broken action figures.

“Hmmm,” the cat man didn't look convinced, “Well, fair enough. It's over there.”

The monster gestured with a paw to a far shelf to his right.

“Appreciate it,” Sans nodded and wandered over to look at the selection.

“This is a cool store you have,” you nervously addressed this “Burgerpants” guy.

“It's nice enough,” he agreed, “One of these days I need to get out of retail.”

You laughed and said, “Yeah, retail is hell.”

“I do get less coffee thrown on me in here though,” he threw you a sly look, “I never really got a chance to thank you for that. Gotta be careful around humans. No offense.”

“None taken,” you smiled, “We’re mostly jerks.”

Burgerpants chuckled, “You're okay, little buddy.”  
He paused as he glanced down at the counter and mumbled out, “When you paid for that guy’s coffee you gave me too much, y’know. If you want, I could pay you back. Like. With a drink. That we could go out for. Or whatever. And stuff.”

Suddenly a bunch of candies clattered to the counter in front of you.

“Just these,” Sans sounded annoyed.

“Sure, no problem!” Burgerpants said loudly, clearly thrown off his game, as he grabbed a calculator and started ringing the candies up.

“It's kinda cool you know my girlfriend already,” Sans sounded casual but with a note of steel in his voice.

You looked sideways at Sans, amused that he sounded very jealous.

Burgerpants faltered slightly, and covered for it, “Huh, I didn't realise you guys were dating. Not a lot of monsters dating humans. I mean, despite all that stuff on the news. But yeah, it's nice to meet humans who like us and all.”

“It is nice,” Sans smiled in a slightly terrifying way.

Burgerpants swallowed and said “That’ll be $17.”

“Aw jeez pal, you gotta be kidding me. The last place I was at this would’ve been like $5!” Sans mood shifted immediately and he just sounded shocked.

Shrugging, Burgerpants replied, “Hey man, I don’t set the prices. That’s what it costs my guy to get them here. We’re not exactly close to the nearest manufacturer, okay? I sell for any less I get it taken out of my pay.”

Sans was still grumbling and Burgerpants looked terrified enough that he was going to drop the price anyways.

“Let me,” you pulled out your wallet, “After all, I want to repay Papyrus’ manager for defending him.”

“No, I’ll pay, it’s just...” Sans was clearly irritated, “Hopefully monsters can start selling this stuff for real soon.”

He slid the money onto the counter.

“You, uh, want a bag?” The cat man asked.

“Yes please,” you smiled, “Don’t want them to melt.”

“I guess not,” Burgerpants agreed nervously, as he shuffled them into a small plastic bag that had the logo of your local pharmacy.

He handed the bag to Sans, and said, “Come back any time. You, know, as like… customers. Not as anything else. To buy things. Because I sell things.”

As you started walking to the door, Papyrus came over with a toy in his good hand and started asking Sans if he could have it.

“PLEASE, SANS?” He begged, “The Great Papyrus has had a bad week.”

Sans rolled his eyes and smiled, “Fine, bro. You do deserve something nice.”

Sans turned back to the counter, “How much?”

“On the house,” Burgerpants replied.

“ARE YOU SURE!?” Papyrus sounded overjoyed.

“Sure’s sure, pal,” Burgerpants nodded, “That stuff is all donated, we don’t have to pay out the ass for it.”

“THANK YOU!” Papyrus raced out the door waving the figure over his head.

“Hey, thanks,” Sans sounded sincere as he thanked the clerk and slipped the bag into his hoodie pocket, “I think he’s been feeling pretty down about all those monster haters lately.”

“N-no problem,” Burgerpants waved his paws, “It’s all good.”

You both waved goodbye as Burgerpants went back to whatever he was doing under the desk.

Walking into the brightness and fresh air was a shock after that run down little shop. You took a deep breath of it, exhilarated. You let out a sudden laugh at Papyrus, who was running ahead of you zooming his new toy around in front of him.

As you all walked along, you reached out to grab Sans’ hand.

“You know you don’t have anything to worry about,” you gave his bony digits a squeeze.

Sans, to his credit, looked slightly ashamed.

“Yeah, I dunno, I know you like monsters, and… we’re not exclusive or anything. We haven’t really talked about it, or whatever,” he sighed, “I’m just being stupid.”

“No, it’s not stupid,” you drew your brows together and looked into his eyes, “And it’s not that I _‘like monsters’_ , dummy. I like **you**.”

Sans turned blue at the cheeks and looked away.

“So you’re okay with being my girlfriend?” he muttered.

“Totally okay,” you pulled his arm closer and wrapped your other arm around it.

Sans chuckled and patted your hand on his arm with his far hand, “Well, I guess we should get to the hospital, huh.”

“Yeah,” you looked over at him fondly, “Guess so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it might be TWO more chapters, folks. I didn't have time to get to the hospital visit! That store scene went longer than I thought it would!  
> Isn't Burgerpants adorable? HE IS TERRIBLE WITH WOMEN. At least his pants didn't fall down this time.  
> For some reason I love the idea of a Sans/Reader/Burgerpants love triangle drama. WHY. WHYYYYYY?????  
> (DRAW IT DRAW IT HAHAHAHH)


	27. Dating & Denouement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You visit Papyrus' boss in the hospital, and walk home with your skeleton boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on Sundays.
> 
> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

You saw the hospital ahead in the distance as you walked hand in hand with the skeleton. Papyrus had started out enthusiastically and now seemed to slow ahead of you. He trudged along and seemed to have shoved his new action figure into his pocket. You felt Sans’ grip on your hand falter. Glancing sideways at him, you could tell he was worried for his brother. You couldn't blame him. When the first anti-monster violence had showed up on the news, one of your first thoughts was of Papyrus. He was too kind and sincere to be caught up in such a harsh reality.

You spared a moment of hatred for whoever had done this to him and his boss. At least they were in jail now. But for how long you didn't know. Hopefully a long time.

You caught up with Papyrus right as you came to the front hospital doors.

“Hey bro,” Sans had an easy smile on his face, “You ready?”

Papyrus went from drooped over to standing tall, “Of course, brother!!!”

 

You all walked through the automatic doors and walked to the desk in the waiting room.

A distracted looking receptionist was typing on an old computer and chewing gum while nurses bustled in and out of the area behind her.

“Excuse me?” Papyrus leaned towards the desk.

“Hm?” the woman looked over, and her whole demeanour changed when she saw the monsters. She jumped, letting out a small scream. Papyrus jumped back too, which was kind of adorable.

You cringed in embarrassment as people in the waiting room turned to look at the spectacle.

“S-sorry,” she mumbled, sitting back down, “you, uh... startled me.”

“It's no problem,” Sans answered with a tight smile, “We’re here to visit a friend.”

“Oh, r-right,” the woman nodded. Despite her claims of only being startled, she was clearly discomfited by the fact there were two skeletons in front of her.

 

You felt angry but it soon gave way to a bleak feeling. This was the world you lived in. You listened to Sans explain who they were here to visit and watched as a nurse was sent off to check on Papyrus’ manager. She scurried off down the hallway as the receptionist tried her best not to look at your monstrous boyfriend and his brother.

 

You slipped a hand into Sans’ again. You told yourself it was to comfort him, but to be honest, you really felt like you needed comforting too. Papyrus was uncharacteristically silent. It worried you. You noticed Sans shooting him occasional looks, as if he was worried as well.

 

It seemed like it took forever but the nurse finally returned.

“He says it's fine. Room 502, just go down the hall, follow the line on the floor and turn left at the elevators,” she said curtly, giving your group a wary look, “Don't tire him out, he only just woke up.”

“Thank you!” Papyrus said joyously, and started walking quickly in the direction she had indicated.

You and Sans followed along behind at a more sedate pace.

When you got around the corner to room 502, Papyrus was nervously pacing outside the door.

“Are you okay, Papyrus?” you asked him.

The lanky skeleton turned to you both and sounded stricken, “He's hurt because of me! What if he doesn't want to see me?”

“He would have said something about it to the nurses when they told him we were here,” Sans shook his head, “It's fine, just relax.”

Papyrus’ face looked slightly less worried, “Yes, you're… right. He likely would have.”

“Let's just go in,” you laid a comforting hand on Papyrus’ good arm, “See how he's feeling.”

“I'm sure he'll be overjoyed to see the Great Papyrus!” the skeleton was sounding more confident already, although you suspected it was at least partly false bravado.

 

You followed Papyrus into the hospital room.

 

A young nurse was there, fussing with some machines beside the door.

“Hello!” she turned with a sunny smile, “You must be the visitors for Mr. Aylward!”

“Yes, I am the Great Papyrus!” the monster announced, “Mr. Aylward is my boss!”

The nurse smiled, “I heard about what happened. He's mentioned you a couple times since he got here. Here, come on.”

She turned and pulled some curtains aside.

A man was laid on the hospital bed looking the worse for wear. He had somewhat shaggy light brown hair and a beard. Both eyes were purpled, and he had bandages on his head, cheek, and various other parts. An IV drip was in his arm, and various machines whirred around the bed.

“Mr. Aylward? Steve?” she touched his arm, “There are some friends here to see you!”

“S-sir?” the taller skeleton sounded hopeful and nervous, “Mr. Aylward?”

The man shifted on the bed and opened his eyes.

“Hey, Papyrus!” Mr. Aylward smiled a sincere grin, and lifted a hand to wave weakly.

“I'll be back in ten minutes. If you need me just buzz. And remember, no standing up!” she smiled warmly and left.

 

“Hey, how are you doing, are you okay?” Mr. Aylward seemed almost frantic, “They wouldn't tell me how you were at first, I don't think anyone knew.”

“I'm fine!” Papyrus eyes were glinting oddly, the sparks looking almost like tears, “My arm was hurt but they fixed me right up!”

“Thank goodness,” the man relaxed into the pillows, closing his eyes, “I'd hate to think I got my ass kicked for nothing…”

Sans chuckled at that.

“We brought you something,” Sans winked, “But we should give it to you before that nurse comes back.”

He grabbed the bag from his hoodie pocket and handed it over to the humans outstretched hand.

“Hey, Sans! Thanks! Is this what I think it is?” the man took a single candy out of the bag.

“It's monster candy!” Papyrus announced in a reverent whisper, “We brought it to thank you for saving me. It will help you get better! Take one a day!!! And hide them from the nurse. And don’t tell anyone we brought them.”

Papyrus looked around the empty room with shifty eyes.

“Thought so,” Mr. Aylward unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth, laughing, “Luckily I didn't lose any teeth, so I can still eat these.”

“I've had them before,” you spoke up now, feeling shy, “They really do help.”

“I hear that. Thanks, you guys,” the man nodded, “So, hey, you must be Sans’ girlfriend. Papyrus talks about you all the time.”

You flushed, even though you'd agreed to be his girlfriend already you felt embarrassed that someone you'd never met knew about you and Sans. Papyrus was oblivious and smiling. You should have known Papyrus already thought of you as his brothers’ girlfriend. Just innocently blurting it out to people. You had to laugh.

“That's right!” Sans put an arm around your shoulders, “This is my girl. She hangs out with us a lot.”

“That's so great, nice to meet you,” the injured man sounded truly happy, holding out the hand without the IV in it, “These two are good guys. Papyrus is my best worker at the pet store down on 5th. My name’s Steve.”

You took his hand gently and introduced yourself.

Then Papyrus launched into a story of what happened when the doctors put the cast on his arm, and had everyone grinning. Apparently he'd been quite confused when the doctors had insisted on an X-Ray.

“I said ‘My bones are right here!” Papyrus sounded miffed, “you can **see** them!”

After you stopped laughing, you heard Steve coughing.

“Oh jeez, sorry guys,” he had a pained smile, “They say I have two broken ribs. It feels kind of rough.”

“I bet,” you cringed.

“At least I don't have to work for a while,” he closed his eyes again.

“An unforeseen **bone** -us,” Sans nodded.

At that, you all burst into laughter again.

The nurse popped her head back in, “Sorry guys, two minutes. We have to give you your painkillers soon, and you're gonna be pretty sleepy after.”

“Painkillers sound pretty good about now,” Steve nodded, “Just a sec.”

The nurse nodded and left again.

There was a long silence that stretched out awkwardly.

“Thank you,” Papyrus blurted out, “For protecting me. For what you said.”

“I'd do it for any of you at the store,” Steve shook his head weakly, “You're a good person, Papyrus.”

“I'm…” Papyrus took in a shaky breath, “I'm not a person though, am I? That's the problem.”

Sans looked heartbroken.

Steve's hand came up to grab at Papyrus’ good arm.

“The cops came by and told me the only reason they were getting to put these guys away is because of me. They thanked me,” Steve paused for a coughing fit, “Said their hands are tied when monsters are the only ones getting hurt. It’s not right.”

“That's terrible!” Papyrus wailed, “You shouldn't have had to be hurt because of me!”

“Hey, don't say that,” Steve looked fierce even as injured as he was, “I'd do it again. If it meant putting those guys away. The laws need to change, but I don't regret what I did. I'd do it all over again.”

Papyrus couldn't speak, but nodded.

“Thanks, man,” Sans looked like he wanted to comfort his brother, but gave him space.

“Really, thanks,” you smiled through misty eyes at the man in the bed.

“Hey, I said it's no big deal,” Steve was smiling.

“Okay, medication time,” the nurse was back in with some pills and a new IV bag.

“Sorry,” she looked genuinely regretful, “don't want your friend to be in pain though, do we!”

 

You all agreed and filtered out, thanking the nurse and waving to Steve as you left.

“We’ll come back to visit again,” Papyrus turned and yelled.

Steve laughed as the nurse stifled a smile.

 

The walk home was happier than the walk there. Papyrus looked hopeful, and his stride didn't falter. Sans’ hand in yours was a comforting presence. Papyrus slowed down to chat with you and Sans. After he'd finished complaining about Sans’ slow pace of course. When you came to the brothers’ house, you realised you still had plenty of time before Sans had to go to work.

When Sans invited you in to watch television, you agreed immediately. Papyrus announced he was going to go find the perfect place for his new toy, and dashed up the stairs.

 

You were curled up on the sofa with Sans watching some nature show when you felt his hand creep up and slip a monster candy into yours.

“Oh my gosh, you saved me one?” you were delighted.

Sans shrugged, “Of course. Consider it a first anniversary present.”

You laughed, “That's not how it works! That won't be for a year!”

Sans looked impish, “Hmmm, these human customs are all so confusing, I guess I'll just take it back the-”

“Aaahhhhh, noooooo,” you squealed and jammed the candy in your mouth, “I'm taking it!”

Sans laughed and grabbed your waist, squeezing you to him.

“I'm sure I'll figure these things out eventually,” he rumbled and kissed you.

You ran your hand over his skull and he squeaked before pulling away and glancing up at Papyrus’ door.

“We should probably, um…” he began.

“Yeah, no you're right,” you blushed.

It wouldn't do to be caught making out by Sans’ brother.

“Hey so, uh….” Sans seemed nervous.

“What?” you leaned in.

“We just got the Save The Dates for Undyne and Alphys’ wedding. I was… Well, I dunno.”

You knew where this was going, but you wanted to hear it so you waited, an expectant look on your face.

“You want to come with me?” he asked, cheeks tinted blue, “As my date?”

“You know I’d love to!” you leaned into him and kissed him, not even caring if Papyrus saw.

As his arms slid around you, you pondered the path that led here. All the pain, the worries, misunderstandings and fights, and you couldn’t think of any other way you’d rather have it.

You had a skeleton boyfriend, a job you loved, good friends, Jeff was gone and things were… good. Everything was so good.

“SANS!” You heard a shrill voice from behind you, “Stop canoodling with your human in the living room! For goodness’ sake! Have some propriety!”

Sans pulled back from the kiss, arms still around you, eyes half lidded, “I thought you liked noodles, bro!”

“SANNNNNSSS!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, you guys. The next chapter will be more of an epilogue, so this is almost it! I'm kind of sad, in a way... ;_;  
> Thank you for reading my story so far, and I hope everyone enjoys the next, and final chapter.
> 
> (I chose the last name “Aylward” because it means “noble protector”. Meaningful!)


	28. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming back from Undyne and Alphys' wedding, you think about what you and Sans have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out all the [new fanart from our talented readers!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/tagged/fanart/)  
> [Sans' Outfit Guide](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)  
> [My tumblr!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com)

Sighing happily, you leaned into Sans. You were in the backseat of a car being driven back from Undyne and Alphys’ wedding. You were exhausted. Staying after to help clean up had been very tiring. Well, tiring for you. Sans had spent it lounging on one of the chairs and making cleaning themed puns. You shook your head and smiled.

It seemed Sans was friends with the who’s who of monster society. When you'd arrived at the wedding venue to set up, you were astounded to be introduced to Asgore, the king of the monsters. He was far more reserved than you'd expected. And far larger as well. You shook his hand, taken aback at the size of it. After that, you'd met Toriel and Frisk, the current ambassadors at the Monster Embassy. Frisk was the only other human in attendance. These were all faces you'd seen in newspapers and news reports on TV. So you were no longer shocked when you'd been introduced to Mettaton, who was quickly gaining fame even in non-monster circles. He was as charismatic and electric as he seemed on television. He had taken your hand and pressed his mouth to it.

“Enchanté,” he purred, as Sans rolled his eyes beside you.

All of Sans’ friends were so kind to you.

You hadn't realised when you met him, but Sans was one of the major players in the events that led to monsters being freed from the Underground.

When you'd asked him about it as you draped up streamers, he shrugged.

“I didn't do much really,” Sans had his feet up on the table, wearing the suit he'd worn to the holiday party, “I just happened to be around at the time.”

You blinked, “I can't believe how casual you are! Your friends are so cool and famous! **You're** cool and famous!”

He'd just chuckled and blushed blue.

 

The venue was bustling with activity by then. There were tons of monsters filtering in and out, some taking their seats. You saw Burgerpants and waved. One monster was a massive undulating mass of what looked like dogs and shadows. It hurt your eyes to look at it for too long.

Sans was laid back about the whole thing, and Papyrus had been racing around with more decorations.

Sans was there as Alphys’ “monster of honour”, and Papyrus was there as Undyne’s. You were shocked at some of the similarities in monster and human culture. As the ceremony time loomed closer, you'd both split off from Papyrus and joined up with Alphys in the bridal suite.

She was midway through a panic attack.

“I'm dying. I'm sure my heart isn't supposed to be beating this hard!?” the lizard looked resplendent in layers of white chiffon, but was clutching her chest with one clawed hand.

Sans grinned and shook his head, “You're gonna be fine.”

“How can I do this to her!? I'm so awful, I'm cursing her with myself forever!” Alphys was flapping her hands around in front of her.

You had grabbed her hands and told her, “Undyne loves you. And when two people love eachother as much as you do, you're both super happy about being with eachother forever. You're not cursing her, you're blessing her!"

You felt Sans eyes on you, but when you'd finished calming Alphys down, he was already lounging on an extra chair across the room.

You spent the time leading up to the ceremony by asking Alphys about her dress.

“It's the same dress worn in the “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie: Resistance” movie when she ascends and transforms through the power of love!!!! Oh, you…. have seen it right? That wasn't that big of a spoiler even. I-it's a wonderful dress but the manga version isn't as nice. I heard the artist had an argument with the director and…”

You loved these monsters. Your friends.

 

You sat in the front row watching the wedding party arrange themselves at the front. Sans looked relaxed and waved at you. Papyrus shot him an annoyed look and stood at attention as the music started.

Your eyes welled up when Undyne came walking down the aisle in her tuxedo with Asgore and he'd given her a fond look with tears streaming down his face. Alphys had come next, escorted by that odd dog monster. Undyne's face was lit up looking at her bride. All nervousness seemed to flee from the small lizard woman as she stood beside her future wife.

The vows were heartfelt and you felt your lip trembling as they promised to take care of eachother always.

You found yourself meeting Sans eyes as he stood beside them. He quirked a grin to the side and winked at you. You flushed and wiped away a tear. It had been a beautiful ceremony.

And the reception had been so fun, with many curious monsters coming over to meet “Sans’ human girlfriend”. At one point, Undyne had manifested a giant blue spear and cut the cake dramatically. You were stuffed full of monster food.

 

A boney hand slipped into yours in the back of the car.

“What you thinking about?” Sans asked softly.

“Just,” you smiled, “today was beautiful. I was just thinking about how nice it was that they finally got to get married.”

You broke off into a yawn.

“Looks like it's past your **wed** time,” Sans winked.

“Har har,” you bumped his shoulder with yours.

You heard Papyrus in the front seat, “NO PUNS!”

“Sorry bro, thought you were asleep,” Sans suppressed a snicker.

“We’re not all as lazy as you!” Papyrus huffed, “You didn’t even help clean!”

Sans just laughed to himself as you shook your head.

When the driver dropped you all off at the skeleton brothers’ house you decided to head in with them and relax a bit, despite how late it was. It was a Saturday night, and you had nowhere to be the next morning. Papyrus scampered to the door, his suit looking decidedly rumpled. You and Sans hung back, walking slowly.

As you walked into the quiet house, you saw Papyrus going upstairs to his room.

“I’m going to change!” the taller skeleton yelled down.

Sans plopped himself onto the sofa and turned on the television.

It was some silly late night cooking show, and he flicked it to the next channel.

They were showing some of the monster riot footage on the news. You cringed, and were about to ask him to change it when the newscaster said, “This groundbreaking decision has come at a time when monster/human tensions were at an all time high.”

Sans blinked.

Papyrus came clomping downstairs, “I liked my outfit, but I still had cake stuck in the collar from when Undyne… Sans? Human?”

Papyrus was clearly perplexed by you and Sans sitting frozen in front of the television.

“Nearly 3 years since monsters emerged from Underground, Monster/Human marriage is now legal, in a landmark ruling.” the disembodied voice of the anchor spoke over footage of monsters and humans celebrating outside the court building.

The program cut back to the anchor shuffling his papers, “Some groups have already vowed to fight the ruling, we will be interviewing the leader of one of these groups after the break.”

It cut to commercial. You and Sans sat motionless.

 

Papyrus broke the silence, “Wowie! That was fast! Now you two can get married too!”

You felt yourself turning red, and saw Sans spluttering in your peripheral vision.

“I have that new Mew Mew movie that Alphys loaned me, can we watch it?” Papyrus didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness.

Sans seemed to recover, his cheeks still stained with blue.

“Sure, bro,” he glanced at you, “You feel like sticking around to watch?”

“I’d love to,” you nodded, still feeling too warm for your skin.

“YESS!!! I’m going to go get drinks at the corner store!” Papyrus was overjoyed, ran to grab his coat and left.

 

“How does he still have so much energy?” you groaned, “I’m so tired!”

“No idea,” Sans shrugged, “Pretty sure he got my share of it somehow.”

“I wouldn’t argue with that,” you giggled.

A moment of silence stretched out.

“So…” you spoke, “Seems like society is at least a bit more accepting of our relationship then, I guess.”

Sans looked serious then and you wondered if you’d said something wrong.

“You know I don’t care either way,” his low voice made your belly feel tense and heated.

“I know,” you laced your fingers into his, “It’s kind of nice though… to know we could. That it’s allowed.”

Sans’ face softened.

“It is,” he agreed, “We’re… allowed. Maybe it’s not so bad up here.”

“I’m glad you came out of the Underground, Sans,” you breathed.

“Me too,” he leaned in and kissed you, hands sliding around your waist and as you felt his bones pressed against your flesh, you couldn’t think of anywhere you’d rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this story. It was my first jump back into a fandom after being out of them for so long.  
> Writing this story has given me so much joy, and I keep getting messages from people who say it brought them joy too!  
> I met some really amazing people though this fandom, people I now talk with regularly and care about deeply (you know who you are)
> 
> I just want to thank everyone so much. This isn't the last of me, I have more stories in progress, and I hope to share them with you.  
> Stay determined!

**Author's Note:**

> For those wondering what Sans' uniform looks like, [I made a model sheet!](http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com/post/136934224034/artists-rejoice-i-made-a-guidemodel-sheet-thingy)
> 
> My tumblr is here: <http://ladydarkina.tumblr.com>  
> Feel free to follow, and send questions or fanart!
> 
> Post-pacifist ending, and most of the monsters have moved to different cities after 2 years on the surface, and if the other characters show up, they'll likely only be a mention, so I haven't tagged them. I'll update tags if anything changes. 
> 
> I don't think I'll go into the specifics of what the reader does as a job, I prefer to keep it vague since that's not what the story is about. It can be whatever you want in your head. ;)
> 
> This is the first fanfic I have written since 2012, so please bear with me as I ease into it. Feedback welcomed!


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